There is growing uncertainty on whether the annual Sand Music Festival will take place this year, our findings can reveal.
Organisers of the event, Impakt Events Management, announced in July last year that the festival will take place from September 26 to 28, but with two months to go, preparations for the event are yet to start, according two separate inside sources.
Our sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed to a leadership vacuum within the Impakt Events Management set-up since the death of founder and chief executive officer ‘Soldier’ Lucius Banda, who oversaw the running of the festival for over a decade.
Last year, the festival was also cancelled and the organisers indicated that this year’s event would be a tribute to ‘Soldier’ dubbed; A special tribute to the iconic Soldier Lucius Banda.
But according to our sources, the possibility of the event taking place appears a far-fetched dream.
“There has hardly been any discussion as regards the preparations for this year’s event. People who were expected to lead are pulling in different directions. I
believe it is safe to say that the festival is dead,” said one source.
Another member of the organising team admitted challenges they are facing, a decision to cancel or proceed with the event will be communicated tomorrow.
Our source said: “As we stand, we
do not have any sponsorship and given the time we have between now and September 26, I don’t think we can secure funds to hold the event. Maybe we will just hold a memorial concert for Soldier.”
Our efforts to talk to two key members
of Impakt Events Management, Jonny Zembani Banda and Wendy Harawa, proved futile as they did not respond to our calls or WhatsApp messages until press time.
The Sand Music Festival was curated as a protest event to the Lake of Stars Festival as many artists and promoters felt the latter did not retain a whole Malawian feel. The first event took place in 2010 at Zitherepano in Mangochi and was jointly organised by Banda, lawyer-cum-music promoter Jai Banda, Tay Grin and Black Missionaries Band.
Jai Banda said initially there were challenges, but Soldier fought so hard to sustain the festival.
He said at first they never anticipated the event will earn corporate confidence as it did eventually.
“It is tough for the organisers to do it without financial resources. But they should not give up,” said Banda.
In a separate interview, Black Missionaries Band leader Anjiru Fumulani rued the struggles the event is facing. He said he hopes everything possible will be done to avert its eventual extinction.
Fumulani said: “The festival is a big platform for both veteran and up-and-coming artists. It is hard for artists and everyone who loves arts to see what it is going through.
“It may take a long time to bring another big event which will be accepted as the SandFest did.”
