Rebecca Malope arrives Friday for BAF
Legendary South African gospel singer Rebecca Malope will jet into the country on Friday ahead of her performance on Saturday at this year’s Blantyre Arts Festival (BAF) to be held at Blantyre Cultural Centre.
BAF Executive Director Thom Chibambo confirmed yesterday that Malope will be in the country on Friday before her performance on Saturday night.
“Everything is in place, we are ready for the festival and we have decorated the Blantyre Cultural Centre. Malope will perform on Saturday and then depar t on Sunday,” said Chibambo.
Malope is expected to share the stage with the country’s gospel artists including Ethel Kamwendo Banda, Thocco Katimba and Patience Namadingo.
Chibambo said they decided to bring the legendary gospel singer to give a chance to people who love gospel music to enjoy Malope’s vibes.
“Since we started we have been bringing different international acts and this year we thought of bringing a top gospel artist to reach out to gospel music lovers,” he said.
Just as the organisers have done every year since 2009, the carnival will open the festival on Friday starting in the morning from Blantyre Old Town to Civic Centre followed by several other activities with reggae group Black Missionaries the last act.
Chibambo said apart from performances during the festival, there will also be workshops for the artists aimed at growing their talent.
The festival will see people paying K3,000 each on Friday and Sunday with Saturday costing K5,000.
Apart from Malope, other international artists performing at the festival which is coming barely a week after people experienced the Lake of Stars Festival at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi include Nonkhululeko Khumalo from South Africa, Baba Watoto Acrobatics from Tanzania, The Great Grandpot from Germany and Munya from Zimbabwe.
Munya, who is Oliver Mtukudzi’s student, will be performing at the festival for the second time having impressed last year his act.
Other artists set to light the festival are Home Grown African, Black Syndicate Band, Giddes Chalamanda, Dalma Theatre, Khuza Lampi, Agorosso, Waliko Makhala and Muhanya.
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