Sauti Za Busara Festival heads to rock Isles  

TEN days count as Tanzania will celebrate a cultural diversity festival, Sauti za Busara, that heads light up Zanzibar next week.

This year’s event will be its 20th edition and bring about thirty artists in two well-designed stages at the Old Fort in Zanzibar.

Apart from the country’s well-known artists’ performances, on the same stage, there will also be artists from the Ivory Coast, South Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Mayotte, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Puerto Rico, Ethiopia and Italy making it an international festival.

According to the festival director, Yusuf Mahmoud, the 20th edition of the Sauti za Busara festival will light up for three nights from the 10th to the 12th of this month.

“During the past two decades, we have been blessed with a historic and unique location and an incredible line-up of artists that left everyone in attendance with lasting memories,” said Mahmoud, the festival director.

Mahmoud continued the festival has become a career launchpad that has catapulted many young artists from the region to international touring opportunities.

“Many artists who performed on Sauti za Busara stages have gone on to be invited to other festivals across Africa and beyond, including Siti & The Band and Tausi Women’s Taarab from Zanzibar; Madalitso Band from Malawi, Sarabi from Kenya, Msafiri Zawose and Jagwa Music from Tanzania and many more,” he added.

Equally, the festival always endeavoured to remain fresh and original while celebrating Africa’s rich and diverse cultures.

“The theme for this edition is Tofauti Zetu, Utajiri Wetu: Our Diversity is Our Wealth,” he continued. “When programming, we always ensure youth, women and marginalised artists are included.

With unique performers representing North, South, East, West and Central Africa and enjoying their favourite artists, we believe many attendees also share our excitement to discover more.”

He further acknowledged the stakeholders’ role in making the festival possible for twenty years.

The stakeholders included the festival sponsors CRDB, Fumba Town – a project by CPS, European Union, France Embassy, Germany Embassy and Norway Embassy.

The CRDB representative at the launching event, Lilian Kanora, the Manager of Experiential Events and Sponsorships, remarked they have had an enjoyable partnership with Sauti za Busara for four years and look forward to keeping up their support.