Top 7 Most Famous Festivals In Zimbabwe
The breathtaking scenery, laid-back villages, lush mountains, and bubbling rivers beckon exploration. This is the place to go if you enjoy nature and want to ... read more...experience its untamed attractions firsthand. Apart from its natural attractions, Zimbabwe has a plethora of artistic talent to keep you delighted during your visit. They are not only entertaining, but they also provide insight into the country's rich culture. So, if you want to discover the actual delights of this wacky country, keep reading to learn about some of the trendiest and most famous festivals in Zimbabwe.
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Magamba, one of Zimbabwe's major urban cultural organizations, organizes the Shoko Festival, a fast-growing international festival. Urban artists, free speech, and fresh ideas are featured in an artistic style. Many of the country's upcoming talents play and expose their ability to a local and worldwide audience on this platform. From musicians to comedians, these creative entertainers put on a performance for the tourists to provide a fun and festive evening.
Shoko Festival brings together the arts, new media, and civic activity. The festival promotes an environment that values freedom of expression and politically engaged art. Shoko was named Promoter of the Year at the Zim Hip Hop Awards in 2012 and 2013. It has provided possibilities for Zimbabwean performers to tour across Africa, the United States, and Europe.
From hip hop and house to comedy and spoken word, this festival has evolved into a full calendar of urban culture-related events. A variety of seminars, conferences, and artist discussions are also held throughout the festival. The comedy night is especially popular with guests.
Make sure to include Shoko Festival in your Zimbabwe itinerary.
Location: Moto Republik Hub, 3 Allan Wilson Ave, Greater Avenues, Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe
Takes Place: September -
Michael Bullivant started the Bulawayo Music Festival in 1997. It held its first tournament in April 1997. The Zimbabwe Academy of Music organizes the events. The festival features a number of classical performances with international performers, as well as a parallel series of events including different types of music. It showcases youngsters who perform in some of the most well-known concerts.
Bulawayo Music Festival is a community outreach initiative that brings together local dance and music groups to perform for a wide range of people. The event brings together not just street artists but also classically educated professionals on a single stage.Musicians attend and play in schools in and around Bulawayo in addition to participating at the festival. The event was hampered in 2002 by the country's political and economic situation. Festivals have been conducted every two years since 2006. NMB Bank, Sandvik Mining and Construction, Australian Embassy, Beit Trust, British Friends of the Zimbabwe Academy of Music, British Council, Alliance Française de Bulawayo, and local supporters have all contributed to the event.
The festival is one of the greatest musical showcases and the most famous festival in Zimbabwe, featuring a wide range of genres such as classical, pop, jazz, and gospel. There will be a range of concerts by foreign and Zimbabwean artists, as well as educational sessions for festival-goers. If you are lucky enough to be able to attend this festival, you will be transported to musical nirvana as you witness world-class performances by outstanding performers.
Location: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Takes Place: May 23th - 27th -
The Zimbabwe International Film Festival takes place every year in August and September and lasts ten days. The festival is put on by a non-profit group to give artists from all across the country and beyond an unbiased platform to screen feature films, documentaries, short films, and more. Participants in the cultural event can also attend seminars. The organizers' major goal is to create a competitive, non-political environment in which to celebrate the vibrant culture of filmmaking and viewership. It also facilitates participation in inventive storytelling by independent filmmakers, artists, and spectators.
The Zimbabwe International Film Festival is an annual visual arts event that brings together filmmakers, scriptwriters, actors, film sponsors, documentary producers, and visual media professionals from all around Zimbabwe and beyond. The event aims to inspire African content makers to take the initiative, introduce young people to the business, and highlight some lesser-known works in the country. Hundreds of feature films, short films, and documentaries created by and about Africans are included at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival.
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
Takes Place: Usually held in August & September -
The Bulawayo Intwasa Arts Festival is a cultural event that highlights Zimbabwe's rich and diverse arts. The term 'Intwasa' implies spring in Ndebele. Every December, the one-week festival takes place in several locations in Bulawayo. The date is noteworthy since it coincides with the start of the spring season.
Workshops, performances, music, theater, readings, literary events, talks, visual arts, films, contests, and more are all part of the festival. The festival takes place across Bulawayo. The festival draws not only local but also international talents. The event has been carefully planned to provide its attendees with a memorable experience that emphasizes quality programming above quantity.The Intwasa Arts Festival has risen in popularity to become a major international arts festival that celebrates human variety and ingenuity. Regional and international musicians from Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Belgium, Wales, and Zambia have performed there.
Location: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Takes Place: September
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The Victoria Falls Carnival, Africa's most fantastic carnival, will return in 2022 for a once-in-a-lifetime long weekend adventure from April 29 to May 1, 2022.
The Victoria Falls Carnival is one of the most famous festival in Zimbabwe. The carnival, which takes place every December in the sunny resort town of Victoria Falls, is a double treat for tourists since they get to view one of Zimbabwe's most beautiful sites while also being entertained by incredible musical talent. The carnival brings together local artists as well as well-known artists from around Africa. The event is a three-day celebration of nonstop entertainment featuring Africa's best stars.
Vic Falls Carnival kicks off celebrations with the Amapiano Scorpion Kings – DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small – on the Grand Opening night of their 10th Edition Carnival. Start your Carnival celebrations off right with a night of live Afrobeats and Amapiano. After a day of adventure at Vic Falls National Park, where you may participate in a variety of activities, dance the night away at the Electric Safari Experience with 'Jerusalema' hitmaker Master Master KG and a host of other top Artists and Performers. The festival will conclude with a Secret Picnic Bush Party. Expect laid-back atmosphere on the day, as well as wonderful local cuisine and craft drink.
Location: 7 De Beer St, Johannesburg, 2000, Nam Phi
Takes Place: 29th April – 1st May 2022. -
"Come and share what makes our nation wonderful; come and share our fraternity and sisterhood; come and share our love of the arts and mankind," HIFA says to the globe.
Another most famous festival in Zimbabwe is the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA). The festival, founded in 1999 by Manuel Bagorro, takes place every year in late April or early May in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. Theatre, music, dance, fine art, and poetry are all represented throughout the week-long festival.
In a program of theatre, dance, music, circus, street performance, fashion, spoken word, and visual arts, the festival celebrates local, regional, and worldwide arts and culture. HIFA is Zimbabwe's and Africa's greatest arts festival, including performances by musicians such as Senegalese superstar Ishmael Lo, Malian afro-pop singer-songwriter Salif Keita, and South African kwaito trio Bongo Muffin, among others.
HIFA features the finest of local, regional, and worldwide theatre, dance, music, circus, street performance, fashion, spoken word, and visual arts. HIFA has become a symbol of something great about Zimbabwe, bringing together socially and culturally divergent groups of Zimbabweans at a time of ideological struggle and political instability to celebrate something wonderful - the healing and constructive potential of the arts.
The Harare International Festival Of Arts is about art, and it offers light where there was previously only darkness, and hope where there was previously only despair.
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe, AfricaTakes Place: 26th April
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The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) launched the Jikinya Dance Festival in 2002, and it is conducted every year among school-aged youngsters. This event provides the ideal platform and showcase for the country's young talent. It encourages young children to study and perform traditional Zimbabwean dance, maintaining the country's cultural heritage. It's also a terrific way to get a firsthand look at the country's culture through these incredible performances.
The event provides opportunity to contribute to the enormous business that produces costumes, shakers/rattles, and drums that are required in schools. The goal of this event is to inspire youngsters to appreciate and perform traditional Zimbabwe an dances. As a result, the country's cultural legacy will be preserved. The event is usually organized by NACZ in collaboration with the National Association of Primary School Heads (NAPH). Delta Corporation and the Culture Fund are also sponsors of the event.
Jikinya is a joyful dance that includes a lot of drumming, dancing, and singing. The Murewa and Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP) communities in the country's North Eastern Districts perform the dance. Dembe/Mhende, a Shona term meaning "Mole," was the name of the traditional fertility dance. Mole signifies fertility, which is why the dance is so popular among the people. Mhande, Dinhe, and Isitshikitsha are among the dances included in this first event.
Last but not least, the Jikinya Dance Festival is one of the few events in the country that highlights traditional customs and it is also one of the most famous festivals in Zimbabwe. The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe hosts an annual event in November that brings together elementary school students from throughout the nation to perform a range of traditional dance pieces. The finals are often held in Harare or Bulawayo.
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
Takes Place: November