By Jimmy Chazama
Veteran musician Ben Mankhamba, who is also Village Head Chingalire, plans to initiate Chingalire Cultural Festival.
The festival will be held in Lilongwe next year.
Mankhamba, maker of songs such as ‘Kamba’nga Mwala’ and ‘Moyo wa Mtauni’, confirmed of the move yesterday.
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He said “it is part of promoting and preserving culture”.
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“If all goes according to plan, Chingalire Cultural Festival will start next year and it will coincide with the opening of the multipurpose hall, which is under construction,” he said.
Mankhamba said Chingalire Cultural Festival would add to the other cultural festivals on the ground.
“It is not about making up the numbers but, rather, creating another platform for sharing our culture. At Chingalire, we host Pakhonde Ethno Music Festival, which happens every year, led by Music Crossroads Malawi.
This festival is intact but we thought of doing something too,” he said.
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Mankhamba said the festival would be running its activities with or without funds and that, at the end of it all, they also wanted to take it as a platform for selling Chingalire to the world.
“We also want to use this festival to talk about issues of climate change and mental health. The focus is on promoting and preserving culture but festivals are also critical when it comes to tackling issues aimed at bringing about change,” the artist, who recently did a remake of the track ‘Mphungu Sataya Mthenga’ featuring Chigo Nyasulu, said.
Meanwhile, Mankhamba has hailed South Africa-based reggae musician and promoter Born Afrikan for visiting Chingalire.
Born Afrikan performed at the One People Africa Tour at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe, recently headlined by Jamaican legend Burning Spear.
He was also at Tumaini Festival at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District last Saturday.
Born Afrikan took advantage of the trip to Chingalire to shoot a music video for the Tumbuka track ‘Namsebeza’, which has been sang by other artists including Kidd Mkandawire, who is based in Denmark.
“Amfumu Achingalire’s work is inspiring. His dedication to preserving culture and empowering local communities is exemplary. This is why I decided to come over and shoot a video and learn one or two things,” the reggae musician said.
