A Hot Ticket for Sauti za Busara Swahili Music Festival 2006

10/22/2005 07:58AM

Contributed by: WMC_News_Dept.

Zanzibar, Tanzania - Zanzibar eagerly awaits the third edition of the East Africa’s greatest annual music festival. Sauti za Busara(“Sounds of Wisdom”) is a four-day extravaganza of diverse and top-quality music, theatre and dance. This unique and exciting festival is free and takes place in the Old Fort, on the seafront of Zanzibar’s historic Stone Town. Held annually around the middle of February, the festival brings together people of all ages and backgrounds in celebration of the wealth and diversity of Swahili music. The event will be held at Stone Town, Zanzibar, February 9th- 14th, 2006 (Non-stop music Program from 4pm to 1am daily; Admission free before 8pm).

Of the forty groups participating, most are from the Swahili-speaking region: Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and islands off East Africa, with six or seven specially selected groups from other parts of Africa and the world.

Organised by Busara Promotions, a cultural NGO based in Zanzibar, the festival showcases a rich and dynamic Program including ngoma traditional music, taarab, kidumbak, rumba “muziki wa dansi”, mchiriku, Swahili hiphop “bongo flava”, Afropop fusions, mystic and religious music, theatre, comedy, acrobatics and dance. During the past couple of years groups from Tanzania already featured include Juma Nature & Wanaume Family, Saida Karoli, Segere Original, African Revolution Band, Afrikali Band, Oya Theatre, Kilimanjaro Band, Chibite, Maulidi ya Homu ya Mtendeni, Saki Stars, X-Plastaz, alongside other acts from Egypt, Yemen, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Confirmed artists so far from Zanzibar and Tanzania for the 2006 festival include Lady Jaydee (with live band), Ferooz (bongo flava megastar), Jagwa Music (mchiriku madness!), Culture Musical Club (taarab), Sinachuki Kidumbak, Bi Kidude drum and dance group, Black Roots Cultural Group and Imani Ngoma Troupe (traditional music) and The Shrine Synchrosystem, a DJ collective based in London UK, performing simultaneously with live musicians and rappers from East and West Africa. Many more artists will be announced in regional press over the coming weeks.

During the week before the festival, Busara is pleased to join with Dhow Countries Music Academy to host a series of seminars and collaborative workshops, including music fusions, music management and marketing.

Sauti za Busara is the only festival in the world dedicated to showcasing the best in Swahili and East African music

The third edition of Sauti za Busara takes place in Stone Town 9th – 12th February 2006, with a special Valentine’s Festival Party at one of Zanzibar’s premier beach locations on February 14th.

Sauti za Busara 2006 is supported by Ford Foundation, Celtel, British Council Tanzania, Zanzibar Gallery, fROOTS Magazine and others to be announced over the coming months.

For more information contact Busara Promotions at busara@zanlink.com