Residents decry US$300k Bulawayo Arts Festival budget

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is facing criticism for provisionally allocating a US$300 000 budget to host the Bulawayo Arts Festival in June.

The Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) argues that these funds would be better spent on addressing the persistent water shortages in the city’s suburbs, where residents often endure weeks without running water.

The Bulawayo Arts Festival, an annual celebration, has taken place during the first week of June every year since 2019. The four-day event follows the Bulawayo Day commemorations, which are held annually on June 1. They are aimed at commemorating the establishment of the city of Bulawayo as a town, on June 1, 1894.

According to council minutes obtained by the Chronicle, a proposal has been made to allocate a budget of US$300 000 for this year’s festival, scheduled to run from June 2 to 5.

“It shall be recalled that council at its sitting on 2nd October 2019 resolved to declare the 1st of June as Bulawayo Day and the 2nd to the 5th of June as Bulawayo Arts Festival week. This was the result of the lobbying from stakeholders in the creative industry. Since then, Bulawayo Arts Festival is commemorated annually during the first week of June.

“The festival’s objectives are to showcase the city’s rich cultural heritage and diversity as well as marketing it as a tourist destination. The festival is commemorated through a number of activities that include musical shows, dance,and exhibitions, among others. The City of Bulawayo and other key stakeholders in the arts, culture and heritage sectors prepare and line up festivities to commemorate the event.

“Annually, council budgets for the festival. This year a total of three hundred thousand dollars (US$300 000.00) has been provisionally budgeted for the festival in the hold of vote. The Arts and Culture office will come up with a programme of events for the festival,” read the minutes.

The city council will also make its facilities available for the annual Bulawayo Arts Festival.

“The role of council in the festivals includes provision of council owned venues and arts spaces as well as taking care of the subsequent overheads. The venues that are provisionally proposed for the commemoration of the festival include the Large and Small City Halls, City Hall car park, Amphitheatre, Community Halls and Youth Centres.”

Winos Dube, the Bura chairperson stated that while residents are not opposed to hosting arts festivals in the city, BCC must prioritise correctly.

“While we support hosting arts festivals in the city, we are facing the most severe water crisis in years.

Therefore, we strongly believe that every available cent should be allocated towards ensuring water provision in the most affected suburbs. Some suburbs go for weeks without running water and that funding could be better utilised to supply residents with water through bowsers,” Dube noted, underscoring alternative uses for the allocated festival budget.

“The question we, as residents, are asking ourselves is: Are our leaders really willing to prioritise a festival over essential service delivery? Water provision is key; water is life. Thus, we expect our leaders to address the water issue without delay.”