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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent

TEN groups from Bulawayo will tomorrow battle it out in the Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Festival provincial finals for a top prize of $1 000 and a ticket to the national finale.

The 10, a mixture of past winners (provincial and national) and novices, will have the likes of Bambanani Traditional Dance, Black Tigers, Unlenje Dance Crew, Iluba Lemvelo, Ibutho Lesizwe, Ezimnyama, Dumezweni, Snippers Crew, Jaiva Traditional group and Amasili Traditional group.

The provincial competition will be held at Manor Hotel at 11AM. 

Trust Gumbo, provincial chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Dancers’ Association (ZNTDA), organisers of the event, said all was set.

“This year we have 10 groups for the competition and everything for the day has been set. We expect a high level of competition during the day,” said Gumbo.

He said the first prize will be $1000.

“Second prize at the provincial finals will be $800 with the third prize being $600. The prize money is in Zimbabwe dollars,” said Gumbo.

Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Festival is an annual dance fiesta that seeks to encourage the uptake of traditional dance as well as to improve the standards of traditional dancing in Zimbabwe.

The competition is organised by the ZNTDA along with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. Delta Beverages, through their Chibuku brand, fund the programme.

The Bulawayo provincial winner will join other provincial winners in the national finals to be held in Kadoma on August 10.