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Mthabisi Tshuma

VICTORIA Falls will tonight host the 2019 Francophone musical concert in celebration of the Francophone week which is ongoing.

The Francophone cultural fest, a multi-cultural collaboration between the French-speaking countries with embassies in Zimbabwe and the Alliance Française opened with the award-winning French film Qu’ est-ce qu’on a fait au bon dieu (Serial Bad Weddings) that was screened at the Alliance Française’s in Harare and Bulawayo on Monday.

Up-and-coming Victoria Falls band, Retro, is set to headline the Victoria Falls gig while Congolese group Diamond Musica and Bulawayo’s Ngoma Band will headline the Bulawayo celebrations at Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo on Friday evening.

The free concerts will see the performing groups show their creativity by performing French songs with live bands.

Director of Alliance Francaise de Bulawayo, Mr Philip Durand-Masse, said all was set for the musical concerts. He urged the general public to attend the concerts in their numbers to celebrate French culture. 

“The first concert will take place on Wednesday in celebration of the Francophone day (today) where Retro group will perform 12 French songs. We also have a Bulawayo female artiste who’ll sing four French songs.

“The second concert will be hosted on Friday evening in Bulawayo where Diamond Musica from Congo will grace the occasion alongside the Ngoma Band. Good music is expected on the day,” he said.

Durand-Masse said two French films and one from Switzerland will be screened in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

As part of the celebrations, a French quiz competition will be run where high school pupils with their French teachers from different schools who study Cambridge will battle it out for top honours.

Ngoma Band spokesperson, Tyce, said they were raring to perform adding that the group will perform some songs from their upcoming Project Ngoma album to be released early next month. 

The annual Francophone Festival in Zimbabwe’s primary objective is to promote the French language by raising awareness of the richness and diversity of Francophone cultures from around the world.

– @mthabisi_mthire.