After successfully hosting the first installment of the Zambezi Annual Cultural Festival (ZACF) in the tourism town of Kasane, organisers are bringing back the festival again this year. It will be hosted at the Chowa Farm on the 30th of September and organizers promise more cultural activities and performances. The festival has brought a spark to the entertainment menu of the Chobe region to augment regular tourism activities in the area.
“This event was inspired by cultural events happening in different places around Botswana and it was long overdue that Kasane has its own event. ZACF was started by a group of young people who came together to improve the Chobe entertainment scene and give tourists who visit Kasane another form of entertainment apart from the usual game drives and the boat cruises. The idea was to have a cultural exchange with all the countries that share borders with Botswana in Kasane so last year we worked with some people from those countries. We worked with Livingstone Tourism Association (Zambia) and Vic Falls News (Zimbabwe) and will be engaging them again this year,” said festival organizer, Sinvula Samunzala.
He stated further; “We believe advertising early will improve attendance at this year’s festival. This event has shown a lot of potential.”
ZACF is divided into two phases: The first phase will feature local traditional food and dance while the second phase will be a music festival. Traditional groups in and around the Chobe area including Bojanala Traditional Dance Group, Thwayuva Cultural Group, Shanganani Cultural Group, Mwathiyathicho, Chakwenchakwe Seperu Group, Nandavwe Seperu Group, and Kasama Dance Group (from Zambia) will perform at the festival. The Music festival will feature local acts La Timmy, Team Distant, Dj Guyvos, Shanky Briz, and many Chobe based upcoming artists. The foreign lineup consists of Judgement Yard (Zimbabwe), Petersen (Zambia) and DJ Siya (Namibia).
As cherry on top, there will be a boat cruise on the 1st October to give revelers a lasting memory of the Chobe region.
The festival is sponsored by the Kavango Zambezi Trans Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA) and organizers are currently wooing Botswana Tourism Organization and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture to come onboard.