Jamaican reggae artist Kenyatta Hill, son to Joseph Hill of Culture, makes a return to the country and will perform at the three-day Sand Music Festival for the second time.
Now in its 13th edition, the festival, led by Impakt Events whose director is legendary musician Soldier Lucius Banda, will be held at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi from September 29 to October 1 2023 after its stint at Kambiri Beach Resort in Salima District last year.
The last time the reggae musician starred at the festival was in 2018 at Sunbird Livingstonia in Salima, where he performed for a long time and left the audience awestruck with his performance.
Kenyatta Hill, whose career began when his father’s ended, is the fourth international act to be unveiled by the organisers of the festival, joining Nigerian singer Spyro, South Africa’s Murumba Pitch and Zambia’s Organised Family.
The four international acts will share the stage with the local artists, who include Janta, Fredokiss, Hyphen and Aidfest and Kineo.
Lucius said yesterday they were happy to have Kenyatta Hill at this year’s festival and that his return follows his outstanding performance in 2018.
“He performed well last time and we thought he should come back and give people another treat. His act ended in the morning last time,” he said.
Kenyatta Hill is the second Jamaican artist to perform at the festival for the second time, joining Busy Signal, who also returned following an impressive performance in his debut showdown.
Lucius said they would remain a festival to offer people an experience.
“We do not want to turn the festival into a single artist’s show. We want people to come and enjoy the festival from Friday and leave on Sunday,” he said, revealing that they were done with international acts for now.
Impakt Events continues its adventures with Sand Music Festival, having also inaugurated Sand Arts Festival this year, when it took place at the same venue in May and featured a local cast of musicians, poets, dramatists and visual artists.
Meanwhile, Impakt Events warming up for the Sand Music Festival has organised what it dubs Vibes at Blues Pop Up Party on Sunday with performances by Kell Kay alongside Aidfest and Kineo.
