Sand, Hangout collide again
Sand Music and Hangout festivals in the country have crossed path again as they have reached out to the same artist in South African singer Makhadzi, real name Ndivhudzannyi Ralivhona.
The move also comes barely a month after the two festivals collided on dates before Hangout settled for end of October.
Makhadzi is expected to perform at the two festivals in the country within the same month.
Posters for the artist performing at Sand Music and Hangout were released on Friday and this, to some extent, has got people confused.
Sand Music Festival will this year be held on October 1 to 3 at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi District whereas Hangout Festival will be held on October 29 to 31 at Kabumba Hotel in Salima
Makhadzi, born and raised in Ha-musina, Limpopo, and best known for her songs ‘Tshanda Vhuya’ and ‘Matorokisi’, is the second international headliner to be unveiled by Sand Music and is the second headliner for Friday after the festival also unveiled Nigeria’s Mr P recently.
Mr P, real name Peter Okoye formerly of the disbanded P Square, will headline Sand Music Festival on Friday.
Sand Music has said it will also follow up with headliners for Saturday and Sunday.
“We just want to clarify that Makhadzi is performing at Sand Music on the first day which is October 1. She is our second headliner for the first day. We gave her a contract,” Wendy Harawa, one of the players in the organising team, said.
She said, as a festival, they were surprised that their colleagues (Hangout) had also gone for Makhadzi.
“There is a way we can all grow as festivals but we should not be competing for sure. We, as Sand Music, are not in competition with anyone and all we are here for is to give people the best experience,” Wendy said.
Hangout, which last year was headlined by South African act Mr Brown, has moved to Kabumba from Sunbird Livingstonia whereas Sand Music has moved from the same venue to Sunbird Nkopola.
“We have moved to Kabumba because Sunbird Livingstonia is doing construction works,” Wachipeta Mkandawire, from Hangout Festival, said.
Mkandawire said it was unfortunate that they had reached out to the same artist with Sand Music.
“We gave Makhadzi her deposit and she signed a contract. At the moment, it seems she will perform at two festivals. As Hangout, we are not in competition with Sand Music; we are here to give people all the entertainment and we wish Sand Festival well,” he said.
Mkandawire promised people the best during this year’s festival and that they will be unveiling more acts.
“We have also unveiled Tanzania’s Harmonise. We will engage our colleagues so that we don’t experience such things; otherwise, all these festivals are for the people to enjoy,” he said.
