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Maria Chiguvari
TUKU Music will launch the Oliver Mtukudzi International Festival of the Arts (OMIFA) to celebrate his contribution in music.
The festival is set to be held at Pakare Paye Arts Centre in Norton on September 21-22.
Running under the theme ‘Dairai, Sabelani, Answer,’ the festival will celebrate Mtukudz’s birthday.
OMIFA seeks to celebrate the legacy of the legendary Tuku with music, dance, art and community festivities.
The festival comes five years after his death.
He lost his battle against diabetes in January 2019.
“The aim of the festival is to honour the life and work of the legendary musician and national hero affectionately known to his millions of fans as ‘Tuku’.
“The festival is a call to celebrate the late Oliver Dairai Mtukudzi’s illustrious achievements and a call for communities to come together and build the future they desire.
“The festival programme will feature a commemorative dinner and a series of workshops and exciting performances and productions by leading artists in music, dance, art and craft, fashion, theatre and film augmented by fun activities for children,” said the organisers.
The festival will announce its headliners and full artist line-up and events programme is due course.
Tuku recorded 66 albums, and several singles, leaving a rich catalogue of songs and his music is still trending.
He earned international recognition as one of the leading artists in Africa.
Tuku’s closest associates describe him as a humble man who related with any person despite age, race, colour, skin or nationality.
Tuku performed on several tours in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
He won different top awards.
There is even a considerable constituency which believes that Tuku is the greatest Zimbabwean musician of all-time.
It’s a measure of his legendary status that his name is always written in gold letters.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter