Nasfest kicks off this month
National Schools Youth Arts Festival (Nasfest), spearheaded by Light of Youth Creative Organisation (Lyco), starts this year’s regional contests on Saturday in Mzuzu and Lilongwe.
Nasfest’s announcement of its regional contests comes barely a day after Jacaranda Foundation and Association of the Teaching of English in Malawi (Atem) also announced their regional contests.
Jacaranda Foundation drives the French Schools Drama Festival.
Unlike Atem which has been out of the limelight, Nasfest and Jacaranda Foundation have vibrant with their activities.
Lyco Executive Director, James Kitchen, said yesterday they were ready for the regional contests which start with the Northern and Central regions before moving to the Eastern and Southern regions.
“Nasfest is growing because this year we have more schools participating compared to last year. This year we have over 30 schools,” Kitchen said.
He said their aim is to create a platform where the youth can showcase their different talents.
“Lyco’s sole purpose is to create a platform for the youth to expose their skills in various art disciplines. There are two sub-groups that form Lyco. The Lycos Arts Theatre that focuses on drama, poetry, visual arts and the Paphata Culture Troupe that mainly focuses on dance,” Kitchen said.
He said 10 schools will battle it out in the Central Region to take place on Saturday at Lilongwe Community Centre Hall whereas on the same day, seven schools will compete in the Northern Region at Mzuzu University Hall.
Some of the schools contesting in the Central Region are Lilongwe Girls, Likuni Boys, Robert Break, Dedza, Chipasula, SOS and New Glyn Jones.
In the Northern Region, some of the schools participating are Marymount, Mzuzu Academy, Katoto Bandawe Girls, Ekwendeni and Nkhata Bay Boys.
The contest in the Eastern Region will take place at Zomba Catholic on October 27 where 10 schools such as hosts, St Paul Minor Seminary, and Rainbow Private will battle it out.
In the Southern Region, nine schools are set to compete and they include Zingwangwa, Joyce Banda, Michiru Boys and Girls.
“Three schools from each region will make it to the national finals. There is so much talent in the country and so we want this talent to be exposed,” Kitchen said.
