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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent

The Bulawayo Day and Bulawayo Arts Festival (Baf) which were coined last year to celebrate Bulawayo’s 126 years as a city, will this year go ahead with the dates for the Baf being unveiled.

Bulawayo Day has been set for June 1 with exhibitions, events and performances set to be staged at different venues including schools and public spaces around the city.

The Bulawayo Arts Festival will be held from June 2 to 5 where music, dance, theatre, comedy, visual arts, poetry, fashion, arts workshops and economic tourism will be the order of the fete.

Last year, the inaugural Bulawayo Day was cancelled after the ban on public gatherings. The Bulawayo Arts Festival went ahead and was staged virtually.

The Bulawayo Day was set aside to commemorate the declaration of the city as a town in 1894 and is supposed to be marked by arts and cultural activities this year.

Bulawayo was declared a town by Dr Leander Starr Jameson on June 1, 1894 and subsequently attained city status in 1943. The city also had its first advisory board in 1894. In 2019, the local authority passed a resolution to have June 1 declared as Bulawayo Day following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with local art and culture organisation, Nhimbe Trust. – @mthabisi_mthire