Ndau festival roars to life

 

Luthando Mapepa
Chipinge Correspondent

THE 10th edition of the Ndau Festival of Arts (NDAFA) will tomorrow (Saturday) roar to life, with hundreds of participants expected to throng Bangira Village in Chikore, Chipinge.

NDAFA which is growing bigger with each passing year now has a research component, with researchers gathering information on how to preserve the rich Ndau culture.

This year’s theme is ‘Ndau culture: Enhancing the conversation of the environment and natural resources for food security’.

Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences’ Registrar, Noah Mutongoreni, will be the guest honour.

In an interview, NDAFA director, Philip Kusasa said this year’s event is defined by its uniqueness of participants.

Kusasa said they extended invitations to tertiary institutions who will also help with research on the Ndau culture.

“This year’s event will be pregnant with surprises. Scores of cultural groups drawn from every corner of the country will grace the event. As a festival, we are not only into performances, but we have also embarked in research and this had attracted many tertiary institutions.

“When the Ndau festival was born, we felt that there was space for research since our Ndau culture was not given space officially until 2013 when there was a constitutional nod for the Ndau people to fully define themselves through language and other cultural elements,” he said.

Kusasa said the festival also seeks to bridge the language gap.

“Some book publishers will also have time to exhibit their books written in indigenous languages,” he said.
Kusasa added that this year’s event will host a couple of agro-ecology organisations to promote environmental conservation.

“This year’s theme emphasises on the conversation of the environment through our culture. We have invited agro-ecology organisations to create awareness on the need for environmental conservation.

“NDAFA needs to take a leading role in awareness campaigns that seek to empower people with knowledge on environmental conservation and good farming practices,” he said.