Lake of Stars in nationwide launch
The country’s biggest internationally renowned music festival that takes place on the palm fringed shores of Lake Malawi, Lake of Stars (LoS), will be launched this month.
LoS will be holding events in Mzuzu and Lilongwe later this month marking the official launch of the 2015 festival scheduled for September 25 to 27 at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi.
Both events will feature an eclectic mix of acoustic music and poetry with the LoS Blantyre launch to follow in Blantyre in May.
“Taking place on Friday April 24 from 6pm – 10pm at the Coffee Den in the heart of the city, the Mzuzu lineup includes recent Muma award winner Danny Kalima also known as Sirius.
According to the founder of Lake of Stars, Will Jameson, the event coincides with his visit to Mzuzu University where he has been invited to deliver a lecture to the school’s tourism and hospitality students on the value and potential of event tourism.
The Lilongwe launch will happen a day later on Saturday April 25 on the first floor roof top Afroma Terrace Bar of the President Hotel.
“Lulu and Q Malawezi will headline the event alongside up-and-coming artists Menes La Plume and contemporary dancer Tron. The event will run from 4pm to 7.30pm so that guests can enjoy the sunset over the city while taking in music and poetry in the smart new surroundings of the terrace,” he added.
The event is the perfect warm up show for the LaughGate standup comedy night featuring Daliso Chaponda taking place next door at BICC later the same night, organised by Malawezi’s Qoncept Creative and Laughrica Productions.
Meanwhile, the next batch of 2015 Lake of Stars Festival tickets will go on sale to coincide with the launch events. Three day ‘Early Bird’ festival tickets will be available for a limited time only, offering festival goers the chance to buy a ticket for a discounted rate of K22 000, a saving of over K10 000 on full price three-day tickets.
The current line-up for the festival includes Gwamba, Lulu, Kalima, Menes, George Kalukusha plus international talent from 2014 UK Mercury Prize award winners Young Fathers and Nigerian artist Ric Hassani. More acts will be announced throughout the year.
An application process is currently open for up and coming talent wanting to be part of Lake of Stars, which has already attracted many submissions from across the country.
“With regards to artist applications we have had lots! We won’t go through them properly until April 24 which is the closing date. But so far, it looks like lots of people applying from Malawi, East Africa, South Africa and Europe,” explained Jameson in an interview.
