Two years after a Covid-19-induced break, one of the country’s unique festivals, Blantyre Arts Festival (BAF) is back but with major modifications.

For the first time, the event will be held outdoors at Njamba Freedom Park. The festival has also been shortened from a three-day event to two days and will be held only during day time.

Chibambo (R) presents a gift to Waheed

Festival director Thomas Chibambo said at a press briefing on Monday in Blantyre that being an outdoor event, the festival will be free of charge to attract a huge patronage. He said the two years of inactivity allowed them to explore new ideas on how the outlook of the event can be refreshed.

“We don’t want to take things for granted that the event is going to be for free. We believe in delivering a quality event and we will make our best efforts to invite the best artists to participate during the festival,” he said.

Chibambo said as a free event, they will rely on endorsements and support from their corporate partners to sustain it.

As per tradition, the festival will showcase music performances, poetry, theatre, cultural dances and visual art exhibitions. So far, Black Missionaries Band, Ethel Kamwendo-Banda, Skeffa Chimoto, Anthony Makondetsa and Temp Trio from Hannover, Germany are some of the artists unveiled for the event.

“On international artists, we have artists from Germany, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Their names will be unveiled soon. In the meantime, we are still in discussion with artists such Skeleton Blazer from South Africa to come too,” Chibambo said.

One of the artists, who has a history with the festival Agorosso, said the exposure that the platform offers to local artists is priceless.

“In 2011 together with Ben Mankhamba and Giddes Chalamanda we visited Germany after being spotted at the same event. The event has a lot of people who come from abroad. That broadens its scope,” he said.

This year’s event will be held under the theme: ‘Climate Resilience Through Cultural Preservation’. Chibambo said the theme was arrived at considering the purpose that the platform intends to serve.

“Climate change is a global issue. Artists are a mirror that reflects on the world. Artists need to look at possible solutions that can be deployed to address the issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, BAF also unveiled Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre as the official partners for the event scheduled for October 8 and 9. The organisers also presented a gift to Amaryllis Hotel general manager Ramy Waheed for his contribution in promoting local arts.

In accepting the recognition, Waheed said it is part of their mission to elevate the status of art and artists in Malawi by providing them a platform to showcase their talents.

He said: “Art and artists bring beauty to life. They make us look at life differently. They enrich our lives, but very few of our artists are able to make ends meet. “Malawi has a rich culture and artists are the best cultural ambassadors. Through them, we can showcase Malawian culture to the world.”

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