admin
Melissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
The usually quiet town of Victoria Falls came to life yesterday as hundreds of tourists thronged the resort to attend the annual Vic Falls Carnival.The three-day fete, which kicked off yesterday with a train and secret bush party, saw revellers being taken on a Victoria Falls Steam Train ride to a unique party like no other in Jafuta – about 15km outside Vic Falls. Revellers were treated to quality entertainment on the train with Vic Falls’ finest DJ Francis on the decks.
Now in its third year, the carnival, which brings together people from all walks of life, will today see revellers partying like no one is watching during a Colour Festival which starts in the morning.
“We decided to go a gear up this year by introducing a Colour Festival. People will have to buy packets of organic powder that has been approved by the Environment Management Agency and the Vic Falls Municipality health department to join in the fun.
“They will use this powder to spray each other during the ColourFest,” Vic Falls Carnival organiser, Emmanuel Tirivatyi said.
As festival-goers will be colouring each other, DJs including ZiFM’s Jason Le Roux will be on rotation providing entertainment. After parties for the ColourFest have been lined up at various venues in the resort town including Shoestrings and Adventure Lodge.
The heart of the carnival, the New Year’s Festival, will be held tomorrow with superstar, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, Judgement Yard and South Africa’s electronic duo, Goldfish Live, Beatenburg expected to usher carnivalistas into the new year. The festival will be held at the Victoria Falls Farm School.
Tuku, who is already in the resort town, was spotted yesterday relaxing at the Elephant Hills Resort where he is booked with his wife.
The superstar said he was enjoying his stay in the resort town and was ready for his performance tomorrow.
He hinted plans to host annual shows in the town which he said was clearly starved of quality entertainment – judging from his surprise dinner performance on Christmas Eve at the Elephant Hills Resort.
Tirivatyi said most tickets were sold out with South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana having purchased most of them.
“South Africa were the main ticket buyers followed by Zimbabweans, Namibians and Batswana, showing just how much support we have from the region.
“Events like yesterday’s bush party sold out last month with tomorrow’s event almost sold out too,” Tirivatyi said.
He said their aim was to grow the carnival into the biggest New Year’s Eve party in Africa.
“What makes the carnival so special is that it brings together people who take adventurous journeys from all over Southern Africa and the world to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.”
He also thanked their media partner DStv for having marketed the event on their platforms as they aired adverts on CNN, Channel O and MzansiMagic, among other channels.
Most hoteliers in the resort town were smiling all the way to the bank as they were on 100 percent occupancy for the duration of the carnival.
“The carnival is good business for us as it boosts occupancy at the hotel. We support the event and hope that we could have more events of this nature,” Kingdom Hotel general manager, Derrick Kung said.
Online Reporter