Yanos Festival returns to Byo by public demand

Preparations for the annual Yanos Festival which has been running for two years at an advanced stage with the event which provides a much-needed platform for local artistes in the city to showcase their talent, slated for Eyardini in Bulawayo on Saturday.

Event organiser, Vuyisile Ndlovu, who is the creative director of Group Therapy, the company behind the festival said they are glad to be bringing back the event to Bulawayo after taking it to Harare, Gweru, and Victoria Falls last year.

“Our biggest stakeholders are the audiences. When they kept asking for us to bring the festival back (to Bulawayo), we figured out that they really needed it hence why we heeded their call,” Ndlovu said.

He said from its inception in 2021, the festival has always had one mandate, which is to provide a platform and an unforgettable experience for the audience and patrons.

“The main reason why we created this event was to create a platform for artistes, specifically DJs in Bulawayo that were not being given that platform by other event organisers and promoters. Most, if not all of the artistes that we’ve had on our line-up have gone on to be curtain-raisers even for international artistes when they come to Bulawayo hence by those standards, that’s the significance of the festival,” said Ndlovu.

The line-up for this year’s edition is set to feature a mixture of established and up-and-coming DJs, each set to bring their unique style and sound to the stage. These include Jones, Mufali, Wellyonz, Mlungu Omnyama, Boyzin Ishuz, Fifi, and Lasoul.

Based on the success of previous events where attendance exceeded 2 000, it is evident that the concept of the event has resonated with a large number of people, indicating a strong likelihood of a substantial turnout for this upcoming event.

“I can’t speak of the number of the people who are expected to come. All I can say is looking at our past events, we’ve hosted numbers that have exceeded 2 000. It’s not a number-centric kind of event, but it’s been good to see that so many people like the concept that they would choose to come and attend.

“We’re hoping to attract the usual crowd and we’ll see how the ticket sales will go since we’re coming back after a very long time. We’re hoping that people missed it as they told us,” he said.

Ndlovu said preparations are going quite well with tickets to the show already on sale.