Well, good start for Illusionz Fest

Beginnings are always tough. Any adventure that is just taking off the ground always faces teething problems.

As time goes, you learn from experiences, failures and challenges that you encounter along the way. But with prior adequate preparation, some establishments have minimised the functional defects that their adventures come across.

Two weeks ago, the Illusionz Beach Festival was at the Kingfisher Inn in Mangochi. The vibrancy in the entertainment sector in active art and cultural festivals has waned in the last three years as most of the festivals have folded up.

So, when Illusionz Club announced the birth of the Illusionz Fest, there was apparent excitement among fun-seekers.  With an exception of The Sand Music Festival, there is hardly any local music festival that has been held consistently.

People may have looked at the event as an opportunity to have a different experience. The eventual cancellation of the Sand Music Festival further swung the pendulum in favour of the Illusionz Fest.

The Illusionz Fest was a real chance for festival-goers to sample new things organisers offered through the platform. The venue of the event, Kingfisher Inn, was a route never charted before.

After  the announcement of the event, questions flew around as to where exactly Kingfisher Inn is. This could be because many people have been accustomed to having such events at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi or Sunbird Livingstonia in Salima.

Looking at the turn-up, you may believe that the numbers coud have been even bigger had the event been hosted in a familiar territory. But the daring ones, who came for the maiden exploration of the venue, did not disappoint.

The vastness of the place was its biggest advantage. There was enough room for safe car-parking slots. With increasing cases of theft during entertainment events, the least people would want is to have their cars exposed in unsafe space for a whole three days.

But the design of the place, with enforced security, ensured that such threats were nullified. A week after the event dropped its curtain, there has not been any reported incidents of vehicle break-ins. That was a plus from the organising team.

The maiden edition will not be talked about without mentioning the sending back of two artists Malinga and Don Tarz for alleged late arrival. This development came as a surprise to fun-seekers.

It was probably one of the few or rare happenings to see at such an event. It is something which has seen organisers and artists engage in a blame game. The organisers still insist the artists were late while Malinga blamed it on protocols at the entry points.

It is difficult to believe one side, but what is evident is how serious organisers are approaching issues of punctuality. Timeliness was an element which they upheld dearly throughout the three-day event.

All artists who performed, both local and international, did so during and within the scheduled times. That allowed the audience to follow the performance schedule.

Regardless of the real reason behind the sending back of the two, our artists need to give themselves time in their operations to avoid being caught on the wrong side in case of such eventualities.

Those performances should be approached with the seriousness they require. A good time for preparations before the event is crucial. I do not think one can be in a good state of mental preparedness just to jump from his car and then onto the stage.

The Illusionz Beach Festival has set for itself a higher benchmark and more will be expected when it returns next year.

The festival ended with an announcement from the organisers that it is a five-year project. We hope the next four years will be as entertaining.