Break the Stars 2013 in Mangochi
After hosting the Sunbird Sand Festival last weekend, Mangochi will this weekend host another three-day hot event, Break the Stars. Brought up by Nyasa 2010, the event will be staged at Ziboliboli and will run from today to Sunday. During the event, fun lovers will have fun in the waters through swimming, boat ride and race. Dj Kenoree of UK, DJ Rabbah, Dj Ghetto, DJ Skorpion and DJ Flame will man the turntables to keep music lovers in the dance floor.
Miss True African Queen auditions in Blantyre
The journey for the 2013 Miss True African Queen begins today evening with auditions at the Sunbird Mount Soche hotel in Blantyre. The auditions are expected to produce five queens who will compete with other 10 from Mzuzu and Lilongwe for the national title in December this year. If you are big try your chance and if you have been drawn back by physical challenges on your, do not despair this time around, the pageant has considered those with physical challenges.
Afro Motel hosts Mothers
Afro Motel in Blantyre will on Sunday host mothers to a Mothers Traditional Summer dance. The event will allow the mothers to have fun dancing. Moses Makawa, Makasu Band, Collins Chitimbe, Joe Gwaladi and Shozzi will be live on stage dishing music. There will also be time for laughter with Mr Jokes.
This and That
Sand Fest: The Hitmakers
With James Chavula
Jah people, entertainment, arts and culture is a crazy world—so fanatical that a journalist cannot positively review one ensemble without being accused of siding with its competitors.
Against these odds, I want to commend Sand Festival for coming back bigger and better organised last weekend. Normally, the festival which started small on the palm-fringed sands of Lake Malawi at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi on Friday, but fast sprawled into a life-size music party it represents – thanks to a predominantly local audience that seem to appreciate that the lake is not a preserve of expats only.
Of course, South Africa’s house hitmakers Big Nuz did not come to headline the show. But rather than whining about their absence and proclaiming ‘absentees’ heroes of sorts, it is better to dwell on the artists who made the fun happen. Lucius Banda and other organisers put their act in order, staging a festival with no idle stage and daytimes. At least, rosters were visible showing where the music was happening.
Additionally, the organisers had managed to weed the playlist to ensure it was small enough to give the patrons ample time to appreciate their favourites. Knowing small is big—the organisers need to start pruning the cast to ensure only promising stars and veterans worth the time and dime remain.
Many were locals that spiced or spoiled the night until Banda announced the absence of Big Nuz and Zambia’s B One on Sunday around 3am. Thumbs up to B One’s compatriots Oga Family and local performers—artist of the festival Paul Banda and praiseworthy new blood such as Skeffa Chimoto, Sally Nyundo and Edgar ndi Davis—for keeping the fire burning throughout the night.
And behind the jam were such sponsors as Airtel Malawi and Sunbird Hotels who believed in the arts event as serious business, not child games or zachibwana. The arts industry must exploit this confidence to achieve the full potential of what last year’s main financier National Bank of Malawi termed ‘music tourism.”
May Sand Festival outlive the Big Nuz setback.
