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Simba Jemwa, Showbiz Reporter

As has become the norm, this year’s Stanbic Bank Jacaranda Music Festival is set to bring world-renowned music stars to Zimbabwe’s shores for three days of unforgettable performances from 7 to 9 October.

Each festival day will offer visitors an excellent music experience of local and international musicians at Old Hararians Sports Club – from Belgium and KwaZulu-Natal to Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe to the Western Province to Gauteng and all over the place!

Festival director, Walter Wanyanya said a total of 32 artistes are billed to participate in the annual musical showpiece that is in its fifth year.

Wanyanya said the festival will be held over five days, with two days being music workshops for those involved in the creative economy followed by three days of musical performances. 

He said the musical performances will be staged at Old Hararians Sports Club while the workshops will be held at The Venue.

“Preparations for the festival have been great so far and we’re at the final stages of planning. What’s not set in stone are the 32 artistes who’ll be participating. And this year, we have a group from as far as Belgium, Morda that will perform on the Friday,” revealed Wanyanya.

Morda will headline the Friday performances, sharing the stage with South African DJ Zinhle and local Enzo Ishall. Morda is a metalcore band formed in Bruges, Belgium in 2003. 

They have three full-length albums running at the moment – Eighty-Six, Azerion and My Will Supreme. They have toured Japan, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Luxemburg.

On October 8, festival goers will be entertained by a line-up that includes Jah Prayzah, Bongo Maffin and Zakes Bantwini. This is arguably the best line-up of the three-day musical part of the festival. All of these three acts will keep the crowds on their feet and bubbling throughout their sets. 

Sunday will feature Janet Manyowa; Bulawayo’s Vusa Mkhaya and Djembe Monks; Traveller’s Band fronted by Kelly Rusike; talented jazz songstress Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana; Victor Kunonga; South African singer-songwriter and record producer, Zonke and her compatriot DJ Fresh. 

Of the foreign acts, Bongo Maffin, perhaps has the closest ties with these shores. Bongo Maffin is fronted by popular local Appleseed or as he is now known, Jah Seed. 

The kwaito music group that Appleseed formed initially in Johannesburg in 1996 released their first studio album, Leaders of D’Gong, in 1997, followed by The Concerto (1998), Bongolution (2001) and New Construction (2005). 

The group consisted of four members namely Stone Seate, Jah Seed, Speedy, and lead vocalist Thandiswa Mazwai who published her debut solo album, Zabalaza, in 2006, after the group parted ways. 

However, their reunion in 2019 came with a new Afro-beat Pop album,  From Bongo with Love, thus not deviating from their original sound.

Wanyanya refused to call any act a “headline” act saying: “We consider all our acts as headliners. No one is big and no one is small, people will be treated to good music all day.”

He said the festival aims at “teaching our artistes about the creative economy through the workshops and also providing artistes with a world-class event for them to showcase their talents. It also provides festival-goers with world-class acts in an environment that seeks to celebrate good social spaces.”

Previous editions of the festival have had top-class artistes like Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Dr Oliver Mtukudzi, Ringo, Black Motion, Mokoomba and Mi Casa to name, but a few.