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Mthabisi Tshuma, [email protected] 

TODAY marks exactly 10 days before the City of Kings and Queens shows its power of being the country’s cultural hub with the hosting of the Bulawayo Day and Bulawayo Arts Festival. 

The Bulawayo Day will be held on June 1 under the theme “Our culture, our heritage, our creativity”.

The celebrations come after the Bulawayo City Council, at its sitting in October 2019 resolved to declare every June 1 as Bulawayo Day and June 2 to 5 as Arts Festival Week. This was done following lobbying from stakeholders in the creative industries. 

The Bulawayo Day serves as a commemoration of the declaration of Bulawayo as a town on the 1st of June in 1894. The celebrations are done in the form of music, theatre, dance, food and craft fairs, cultural tourism and sporting activities to showcase the cultural and creative prowess of the City of Bulawayo. 

The festival has been commemorated annually since 2019 except in 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions led to the cancellation of the festival. 

City of Bulawayo corporate communications officer Nesisa Mpofu said preparations for this year’s celebrations are underway. She said the celebrations will be focused on the promotion of arts, culture and heritage by providing incubation, support and promotion of creative industries.

“This year’s celebrations will kick off with a Tourism and Heritage Trail tour which will start from the City Hall and move to Makokoba suburb where people will then converge for the festivities at Stanley Hall National Monument on 1 June. 

“The Stanley Hall is a Heritage Site which is key in the history of Bulawayo and Zimbabwe. Converging at Stanley Hall is part of efforts to promote heritage tourism and showcase the talent in Bulawayo through performing arts,” said Mpofu.

She said this year’s focus is also on promoting township tourism which involves visiting places, events, and activities that reflect the history and culture of Bulawayo. 

Stanley Hall in Makokoba

“The City seeks to encourage Community-Based Tourism (CBT) and educational township tours by partnering with the Bulawayo Makokoba Township Tourism Trail, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe as well as Makokoba Community,” said Mpofu.

She said the Bulawayo Arts Festival (Baf) week has several arts activities lined up.

“The activities include a Culture Craft Fair that will run from the 2nd to the 3rd of June at the City Hall Car Park,” she said while inviting all craft creatives who wish to participate to book space where they will showcase their works or sell their wares. 

—  @mthabisi_mthire