Zomba City Festival 2023

The circus comes to town!

Zomba City Festival has its 3rd edition 28th April until the 1st of May. Three days of entertainment for all ages in the historical town of Zomba in Malawi.

Malawi

Zomba is the former capital of Malawi, a small landlocked country in the southeast of Africa. It is a beautiful country; known for its stunning landscapes, friendly people and big lake. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world with an average of … per day, which is far below the UN extreme poverty line. There is no oil, gold or cobalt in the ground, and the majority of Malawians are subsistence farmers. They grow their own food and sell whatever they can.

Arts & Culture

You can imagine that arts & culture are not top priority for the Government of Malawi. People are surviving here and a career in the creative sector is not taken seriously. But there are many young people who dream of becoming a famous musician, a published poet or earn a living organising events. Arts gives people hope and can give people an income, and it gives people enjoyment.

Zomba City Festival (ZCF)

ZCF started in 2020 when the festival was cancelled due to covid. In 2021 a small event at 4 locations in town was organised with a budget of just €4,000. Last year in 2022 it was bigger and better, with more than 150 artists at 7 locations in Zomba between 29th April and the 2nd of May. The opening was in the historical Gymkhana building; there wat poetry and a book fair at The Heritage Centre every morning; films at Mango Lodge; yoga and hiking on the mountain; fashion, treasure hunt, jumping castle and a visual arts exhibition in the open air in the Botanic Gardens; live music at Pakachere Backpackers; and more music in The Mixed.

ZCF23

ZCF23 has a similar concept: 3 days of culture, nature & heritage at 7 locations in Zomba. The festival is organised by a small of team that is slowly growing the closer we get to the festival. We started with 2 people in September, we are now 4 in the (virtual) office and the core team for the festival will be 10 plus approximately 40 volunteers.

The programme will be full of family fun with activities for children, sports & games, live music, poetry, theatre, film, visual arts, historical walks, and much more. We are currently looking for partners and aim to have many female artists in the spotlight as well as talent from Dzaleka Refugee Camp.

HELP

The organising team is busy contacting Malawian sponsors and we have many ideas for income generating activities, but we know it will be hard to find all the money in Malawi… we do not like asking, but we are looking for 2 million kwacha to realise our dreams for ZCF23. We already secured 5 million and aim to sell 550 tickets, we are good to go to start contacting artists and offer them a fair package to perform at Zomba City Festival including transport, accommodation and food.

Information

Please contact us if you want to have a look at our budget. We learned it is important to be transparent and are committed to be open and honest about everything we receive and spend. Below you find what we will spend the 5 million on. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions. The festival website is www.visitzomba.com/festival and our email is [email protected]