VICE-President Phillip Mpango is expected to officially open the 41st International Bagamoyo Arts and Culture Festival ahead of its flying start in Bagamoyo on November 10th this year.
The festival, to climax on November 13th this year, brings together artists from within and outside of Tanzania and will be staged at Bagamoyo Arts and Culture Institute (TaSUBa) in Bagamoyo.
The festival welcomes several dozen cultural groups from all parts of Tanzania to participate in each celebration. There are also groups from other African countries and occasionally guest groups from Europe.
Besides the number of guests appearing in this year’s festival, Vice-President Philip Mpango will grace the event’s launch brightly coloured by a mix of music, theatre, dance, acrobatics, discussions and exhibitions.
The appearance of Mpango in this year’s event was confirmed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports, Hassan Abbas, yesterday during the press briefing regarding the festival preparations.
“It is a great honour for us art stakeholders, we invited President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and with her great love for this profession, she has directed Vice-President Philip Mpango to represent her.”
Abbas confirmed their preparations are done, highlighting that it will be a vibrant festival involving local and foreign groups.
“The opening will be on November 10th; preparations are largely complete.”
The Executive Director of TaSUBa, Herbert Makoye, said they have planned to make the festival a success this year and out of 30 local groups, 27 have confirmed to participate, and eight out of 11 are foreign.
Makoye also said that at the festival, there will be exhibitions made by various institutions, including the Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa), the Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS) and the National Museum.
“Additionally, 27 arts and culture groups in and outside the country have confirmed their participation.”
For this year, groups from various countries, including Canada, Zambia, Kenya, and Mayotte Islands, have already been confirmed.
He added the list of local groups and artists who will perform at the festival will soon be released this week.
The Bagamoyo District Commissioner, Zainabu Abdallah, has dismissed the guests’ worries about their safety during the festival by assuring all those who will attend the festival that security and safety are their priority.
The 41st International Bagamoyo Arts Festival was originally scheduled for October 22-28 and then postponed to November 5-12.
