No Lilongwe Jazz Festival

Organisers of the Lilongwe Jazz Festival have announced that the event will not take place this year.

The festival, inaugurated in 2018, is one of the most successful music festivals which focus on jazz music.

The festival’s communications manager Khonjwa Ngwira said they take the health and safety of patrons seriously; hence, their decision to cancel this year’s event in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and its precaution measures, especially social distancing which restricts public gatherings to a maximum of 100.

“Due to the scale of the event, which draws over 1 200 attendees, it is in the public’s best interest to cancel the 2020 event,” he said.

He said looking at the pandemic, it’s hard to tell when the virus will be defeated.

Ngwira says the jazz festival organisers are looking at options to provide an e-event through different channels available for the festival’s fans enjoyment.

In a separate interview, one of Lilongwe Jazz Festival founders Owen Mbilizi said he is exploring the option of holding two small events instead of a big jazz festival as it is usually the case.

“My suggestion is that we can have a show at the Lilongwe Golf Club, strictly by invitation and have it live online and even on television and another one in Blantyre,” he said.

The Lilongwe Jazz Festival is one of the annual entertainment events in the capital city that take place in August.