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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
ORGANISERS of the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards have promised a bigger and better event that will be filled with sub-events as a run up to the awards ceremony.

Due to these plans, event organisers have decided to postpone the showcase which had been scheduled for August 28 to November 6, 2021.

Last year, the awards which were in their fourth edition were also postponed from the traditional month of August to November due to the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to be a big blow on the arts sector.

Following the postponement, organisers have promised to roll out events that will meet their mantra of recognising good effort and talent among Bulawayo and Matabeleland region artistes.

The call for nominations has been pencilled for August 2 with works from October 31, 2020 to August 1, 2021 eligible. Artistes can self-nominate and can also be nominated by fans.

The awards spokesperson, Nkululeko Nkala said it is their hope that the arts sector will be allowed to fully operate in adherence to Covid-19 protocols as they are planning to make the awards ceremony a big initiative.

Hwabaraty receiving Roil BAA

“The 2021 Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards have been moved from the 28th of August to the 6th of November, 2021. The awards will take a new shape this year in light of the presence of Covid-19. Most of the changes will be announced in due course, but one of them is that we’ll have a few sub-events before the actual awards.

“The sub-events include a pre-awards show and dinner for the nominees. All this is still being planned as we’ve set our eyes on the arts sector being allowed to fully operate,” said Nkala.

He said the postponement also comes as a number of arts events that had been halted due to the pandemic, have started to take shape.

“The postponement has been necessitated by the need to profile and give time to other genres like theatre which have been grossly affected by Covid-19. After consultation with the sponsors, we also felt we needed more time to be able to come up with an award or awards that could greatly impact on a few winners.

“We’ll, therefore, use this time to engage more partners and hopefully the extension will birth more creative works before we open for nominations and submissions.”

The spokesperson went on to call on interested individuals and organisations to come on board and partner them in making the events a success. -@mthabisi_mthire