The 10th came at a huge cost

The Sand Music Festival is one of the biggest events on the country’s annual calendar of entertainment.

Its significance can be gauged both in negative and positive tones. Whether you are part of it or not you feel it.

This was underlined last weekend when SandFest rolled out for the 10th time at Sunbird Livingstonia Beach in Salima. The attention it drew as attested by overflowing commentaries in various media platforms was simply overwhelming.

It showed how hard it is to avoid the event. It showed how big the event is. It showed the impact the event has made during its 10 years of existence. For a moment, the happenings at the beaches of Lake Malawi at Sunbird Livingstonia Beach had completely dominated the social media narrative.

This was despite the fact that this year’s edition faced one calamity after the other. As such, the event designed to last three days, went on till the early hours of Monday.

The first hurdle came in form of a miscalculation in power management which left the equipment damaged. And that was before a quarter of the acts, expected to perform on the day, had taken to the stage.

The option was to use the smaller stage on the far side of the beach, which is normally reserved for activities such as poetry and DJs during day time.

But the festival had to go on and the organisers knew they had to make the best out of the situation. First to be squeezed on the small stage was Zembani Band. Skeffa Chimoto had his run too. However, that improvisation only went as far as Nepman’s performance. It appears some artists decided against performing on the makeshift stage. And the first day of the event was almost lost.

As the festival went into day two, there was a backlog of performances from the previous day.

So, the task on the day included bringing in a new set of equipment and trying to find slots for the acts carried over. Nothing appeared easy. The new equipment was only installed after 4pm. That delay meant it was difficult to accommodate the other set of artists.

As the organisers worked on the puzzle, lightning struck the event again. Just after three notable performances on Saturday, a heavy downpour descended on the beach. Every soul standing on the sand had to run to the nearest shelter. In the process the equipment was left exposed to the rains. It got soaked. And the festival was suspended to the next day.

The organisers, Impakt Events Management, in their communication said the performances would resume the following day, Sunday, at 9am to accommodate artists who were yet to perform. Until then it looked like a doable excursion.

But as fun seekers arrived at the appointed time, there was nothing on stage. The new equipment, a third set now, had not yet arrived. Another waiting marathon went on till 10am. The revellers would take it no more. Things got ugly as they started pelting the stage with bottles and dismantling part of the sound control centre.

It had to take the intervention of Impakt Events director Lucius Banda to come in and calm the emotions which were evidently spilling to scary levels.

When a van carrying the equipment arrived at around 3pm, it was a huge relief to all. The engineers did their best to install the set in the shortest time possible.

When it was good to go, there was no delaying and in succession the festival unleashed two of its international headliners Master KG and Diamond Platinumz. They did their part and left fun seekers satisfied.

But there was never going to be any slots for the other acts. Notably Black Missionaries Band which had another show in Lilongwe at Cleppa the same Sunday. Despite arriving at the venue, they left without performing.

No wonder there has been much talk about shifting the dates. Many are of the view that it is time that organisers gave in to nature. The problems that the festival has faced with the rains are not new. And sadly it may not be the last.