This year seems to be blessed in terms of festivals, as rights holders associations are here with their own festival dubbed Bwalo La Aluso Arts and Cultural Festival to be held next month.
The festival will be held at Cresta Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe from 26th November to 1st December, 2012.
In a press statement released Tuesday, Chairman of the Publicity Committee Francis Tayanjah Phiri, said the festival would be supported by the Royal Norwegian Government through the Cultural Support Scheme (CSS) under the coordination of the Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma).
The festival follows several other festivals this year which include Mwezi Wawala, Kafukufuku and Malawi Cultural Festival.
But Phiri said the festival, is unique as it has several programmes and that it would also be taking place annually.
“You may wish to know that under Cosoma’s coordination the rights holder associations are running several projects through the Cultural Support Scheme. As such we, the creators, have organized this special event to celebrate the richness of our arts and culture,” he says.
The rights holder associations involved include Musicians Association of Malawi (Mam), Photographers Association of Malawi (Photama), National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam), Journalists Union of Malawi (Juma), Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam), Malawi Writers Union (Mawu), Film Association of Malawi (Fama), Poetry Association of Malawi (Pam) and Malawi Folkdance, Music and Song Society (Mfodmas).
The festival will be celebrated under the theme ‘Consolidating Artistic Diversity’.
“This arts festival will be an ongoing event to be celebrated annually, and this is the inaugural event. During the event, the artists will also commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Cosoma,” he said.
Phiri said the The Bwalo la Aluso Arts and Cultural Festival will have full-packed performances and activities which will, among others, include presentation of awards to deserving Malawian artists in various sectors.
These sectors include theatre, music, film, photography, visual arts, writers/poets, journalism and publishing.
During the festival, patrons will also sample traditional dances such as Gulewamkulu, Ingoma/Ngoma and Vimbuza, arts exhibitions, music both gospel and secular, poetry, drama, sensitization march and various workshops on arts and culture.
” We are also expecting two most popular Nigerian actors to headline the event but the names will be made public once all logistical arrangements are finalised,” said Phiri.
Asked how much money they will be spending on the event, Phiri said they were still working on the budget but he added that currently, preparations are at an advanced stage and that the media will be updated on the progress.
