Iman Man, 18th January 2010 @ 22:00, Total Comments: 1, Hits: 2265
AS the first month of the year passes the half-way mark the spotlight slowly begins to move over to Stone Town, Zanzibar, in expectation of the Sauti za Busara (Sound of Wisdom) music festival there next month. Staff Writer IMAN MANI has followed the beam of light to find out what is likely to take place there, bearing in mind there is electricity blackout throughout the Isles.
ORGANISERS of this year’s seventh episode of the Sauti za Busara music festival in Zanzibar next month are promising all those who attend “more fire”. In conversation with the Festival Director, Yusuf Mahmoud, earlier this week he confirmed that their aims remain the same as in previous years.
That is to bring people together, whilst showcasing the wealth and diversity of music that is presently being created in East Africa. Thirty out of the forty groups, which are participating this year, from February 11 - 16, represent the immediate region.
These he says include conscious urban and electric styles, as well as traditional dance groups from rural areas.
As has been the custom, this year ten groups will be showcased from other parts of the African Continent and the Diaspora. These are groups the organisers believe will bring new ideas and inspiration for local artists and audiences.
When they started in 2004, it was difficult to programme women musicians because there were few in the region. However, at next month’s seventh edition, it’s the women, who will provide the highlights, the director adds.
“In our opinion, Thandiswa from South Africa and Nyota Ndogo from Kenya are two of the continent’s finest singer-songwriters. More history will be in the making when Tausi Taarab takes to the stage.
This is the first all-women orchestra ever in East Africa, who are to make their debut at this year’s festival,” Mahmoud says.
Their expectations are high because going on past experience they have noticed that during the festival over 5,000 people attend every day. The total number of people attending each year has been around 18,000 for the six-day event.
That is 70 per cent being East Africans and the remaining 30 per cent coming from places like Europe, North America and Japan. No doubt they are very pleased to see the event is attracting more visitors from all over Africa year on year.
According to him Africa needs more success stories like this festival and cultural celebrations to keep traditions alive, promote peace and stability, build unity through respect for diversity, create employment and attract visitors who boost the local economy.
One of the other benefits, which come out of the festival, is the opportunity for them to regularly network and exchange artists with other festivals in Africa and the Indian Ocean countries.
Through such collaborations they see it that everybody wins. This is in line with the reputation of the Isles having been welcoming people from far flung places for centuries.
These visitors from far have brought their influences from other parts of Africa, Arabia, India, Iran and Europe that are naturally reflected in the Swahili language, cuisine, architecture and of course in the music.
The Old Fort in Stone Town is the perfect location for cultural celebrations, with its thick walls, unique history and World Heritage status.
“The same venue hosts an annual Zanzibar International Film Festival during July, which showcases films from Africa and the Indian Ocean.
On the other hand, in February Sauti za Busara focuses on quality and diverse music from East Africa. It's one of the few music festivals in Africa that has no playback artists but features one hundred per cent live music,” the Director boast.
He stresses that Sauti za Busara’s main aim as an annual, Zanzibar-based, world-class music festival is to promote the wealth and diversity of music from East Africa, to promote Zanzibar worldwide and to generate economic benefits for the local population.
Further that it shows there is a way for young people there to earn a living through music, especially if they don't forget their roots.
He claims that the festival has helped Zanzibar’s Taarab, traditional dance and Kidumbak groups to perform regularly at home and abroad. This is whilst their music “mingles with new and ever more exciting directions, as they learn from and collaborates with other musicians”.
In this respect Government statistics show that the numbers of visitors to Zanzibar, during February increases by more than 400 per cent, since the festival started.
This is made visible as local hotels, shops, restaurants, flights, ferries and so on are all full, money is circulating and the local people are smiling.
Sauti za Busara has now built a worldwide reputation as one of Africa's top three music festivals.
International music festivals of a similar size would normally have a budget of several millions but according to Mahmoud one reason why they have managed to keep going so well is that each year they only spend the amount of money they have raised.
“Typically the budget is found from international donors 50 per cent, local commercial sponsors 30 per cent and tickets and advertising revenue 20 per cent.
In 2004 we managed our first edition on a total budget of 26,000 US dollars, for all expenses, including venues, artists’ fees, accommodation, travel, technical equipment, promotion, marketing, salaries and administration,” he maintains.
The budget has increased since then, all-be-it slowly but steadily to meet rising local costs, as well as improving standards of production but they have managed to keep it within range of what is collected.
The fact that since last month the Isles hasn’t had electricity has disturbed things but he says not beyond their control.
In this regard the Festival Director adds, “The Government assures everyone they are working to resolve this but it seems unlikely that normal service will be resumed before the festival begins.
Don’t let this worry you though, Zanzibar is safe, the festival will be powered - unfortunately our only local option being with generators - and all performances will continue as advertised; God willing!”
However, he did admit that it’s been quite stressful for the organising team. During the past month their old office generator packed-up and they had to buy a replacement.
They have hired several large generators for the festival period and in the meantime they continue to spend a fortune on fuel to keep things running. No one expected such a disaster and a lot of people on the island are suffering as a result.
He also admits that visitors to Zanzibar will inevitably experience problems, such as hotels and restaurants having noisy generators, there being water shortages, intermittent internet failures and so forth.
At the moment, the streets of Stone Town are very dark at night so they are advising all their guests to bring a torch.
In the meantime they are working with the local authorities and employing extra people to help with safety and security issues.
One of these security methods is to have what they call “Busara Buddies”, to accompany guests as they walk home after the shows.
The struggle continues but Mahmoud maintains that people there are pulling together and they are confident the seventh edition of Sauti za Busara next month will be “more fire, as is usual!”
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Keep it up Sauti Za Busara. I am happy to pass on the info to the Diaspora living in USA
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