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Oliver Mtukudzi

Nothabo Nyathi, Chronicle Reporter
Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s fans in Victoria Falls are in for a rare treat as the superstar who recently launched his Hany’ga album will be performing at the Elephant Hills Resort on Saturday.

The event that is expected to kick off at 8PM will likely be well attended, as it is being used as a vehicle to promote domestic tourism.

Also, it will be a welcome development for residents here who are often starved of quality entertainment. Advance tickets are already on sale and are being sold for $10.

Fastjet, an airline which plies the Harare-Victoria Falls route has come up with a package where it has reduced its ticket prices for the weekend to ensure people from the capital travel to the resort to attend the event.

Unfortunately, fastjet does not service the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route so music lovers from Bulawayo intending to attend the show will have to hike or catch the train.

Elephant Hills whose pricing for accommodation usually costs up to $180 has slashed its prices with a single room costing $110 for this weekend.

Event organiser, James Kuwuanba said preparations for the event were going on very well.

He said they had gone all out with the show as they want to encourage locals to visit their tourism attractions while getting good quality entertainment.

“We’re expecting this event to be big and even exceed the Vic Falls Carnival. If it draws a huge crowd, we’ll start hosting such special weekend events frequently at the Elephant Hills Resort.

“This is the first time Elephant Hills is hosting a musician, previously the artistes would perform there only at the end of conferences and similar gatherings that would be held there,” said Kuwuanba.

Tuku’s spokesperson, Walter Wanyanya said the event was being held to promote domestic tourism and also afford people in the resort town an opportunity to witness the icon perform live.

“This event is special to us as we want to promote domestic tourism by performing at a world wonder and getting people to follow us to witness the show. This is why we partnered different players in the tourism industry like fastjet, Elephant Hills Resort and Vic Falls 365, all who’ve come up with packages that are lucrative,” Wanyanya said.

He said Tuku would mainly showcase the new album Hany’ga while also performing all time greats.

“He’ll perform a lot of songs from the new album but we’ll try and give people the best of Tuku. Mainly though, we want them to experience the live aspect of the new album.”

Wanyanya paid homage to comedian, Carl Joshua Ncube whom he said was instrumental in the promotion of the show and domestic tourism.

“Carl Joshua must be commended for his efforts as he really has been pushing domestic tourism in Vic Falls through his Victoria Falls 365 website. He’s gotten so many people interested and excited about visiting Vic Falls. He’ll likely MC Tuku’s event there.”

Those who will attend the event will be lucky as they will be the first ones to watch Tuku live in action outside Harare and Norton this year, other than the few who witnessed him during his short stint in Bulawayo recently at the NRZ trains launch.

From Victoria Falls, Tuku will start preparing for his UK tour that begins at the end of the month before he returns to share the stage with Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo in Harare next month.

@nyathi_nothabo