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Showbiz Reporters
Residents from Bulawayo yesterday packed the Nkulumane Hall at Sekusile where they were treated to free performances from various artistes as they celebrated cultural diversity and the declaration of Bulawayo as a city (Bulawayo Day).

The city was celebrating 128 years and there were vibrant scenes at the celebrations where groups such as Iyasa and Victory Siyanqoba showcased splendid performances.

Bulawayo City Council senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu said Bulawayo Day was a very special day for the city.

“Today is a very special day for Bulawayo as it’s the day that we celebrate Bulawayo Day. On the 1st of June 1894, the city of Bulawayo was established as a town, and on the 2nd of October, 2019, the city meeting resolved to declare the 1st of June as Bulawayo Day and subsequently, the 2nd to the 5th of June as Bulawayo Arts Festival (Baf) Week.”

She said Bulawayo Day was a celebration of arts, creativity and mainly, a celebration of unity.

“We are grateful that the city of Bulawayo has a rich historic and cultural heritage because of our predecessors. Bulawayo Day is key because as a city, it allows us to celebrate our identity, culture, values, and also who we are. It is a celebration of arts, creativity and a celebration of unity.

“Bulawayo is a cosmopolitan, metropolitan city and province and as such, we have a diversity of cultures, tribes, beliefs and values. Through Bulawayo Day, it is the city’s belief that these forms of diversity can unite and build the Bulawayo we want,” Mpofu said.

She added that Bulawayo Day and Baf are key in supporting the city’s creatives.

“As a city, we value the participation of stakeholders in building the Bulawayo we want, particularly the creative industry. The Baf thrust is an arts, culture and heritage structure that allows us to promote the creative industries through incubation, support, and promotion. It also boosts the creative economy through creatives that participate.

“As the cultural hub of the country, it is our hope that the creative industry will become a key sector in the local economic development strategy of the city.”

To celebrate the day, artistes Ramsey K, Prosper Tshuma, Mandy Mae, Umkhathi Theatre Works, Western Khazins, Dalu the Comedian, Oxide Kids, Thandy Dhlana, Bolamba Culture Birds, Iyasa and Simunye Simunye, among others took turns to entertain audiences from 2PM.

One of the co-ordinators of the Nkulumane event, poet Desire Moyoxide said it was important to celebrate the day.

“Bulawayo Day is every resident’s day to celebrate the Bulawayo brand with pride. Together with Nkululeko Nkala, we partnered with fellow artistes and other partners to celebrate the big day through this event and we’re glad that the celebrations were well attended.”

The event ran under the theme “SinguBulawayo (we are Bulawayo)” as the organisers “wanted to share the idea of ‘Love Bulawayo’, which is a space that seeks to restore the pride and love for the city of Bulawayo.”

Commenting on the celebrations, Bulawayo Music Association (BMA) chairperson Thuts Harsh Touch said more should be done to commemorate the day.

“Bulawayo Day is a very important monumental day which should see Bulawayo going awash with celebratory activities, with the outstanding Bulawayo offerings on showcase. Bulawayo is a giant in football, music, dance, film and cultural diversity hence a day filled with all the above should be roaring everywhere,” he suggested.

Interviewed about what she likes about Bulawayo, songstress Novuyo Seagirl who performed at the celebrations said: “I like Bulawayo because it’s clean, serene and peaceful. Mostly, I think what keeps me in this city is that it’s the hub of culture and talent. Being a creative myself, I’m proud to come from this beautiful city that’s full of beautiful people.

“It’s also got stunning holiday resorts and is simply, the best place to be.”

She said Bulawayo Day must be celebrated in a big way as it is “a celebration of everything about Bulawayo — the heritage, cultural diversity, people, our oneness and anything that you can think of that says ‘I am Bulawayo’.”

Commenting on the importance of the day, radio personality Babongile Sikhonjwa said the day should be used to reflect on the developments that Bulawayo has attained, correct anomalies, and plan ahead.

“The day is very important for us to reflect on where we are coming from as a city and what we’ve managed to achieve along the way. The founders of the city said ‘Masiyephambili’ (let’s move forward)’, so celebrating this day should also help us to check if we’re really moving forward so that we correct our mistakes and work on developing our city,” said Sikhonjwa.

He also said more could be done to celebrate the day and raise awareness since many people are still not aware of the day. Hip-hop group, Killemol member, Rodney Ngadlangadla also said there was a need to raise more awareness and host bigger celebrations so that residents and everyone around the city will be able to be part of the big day.

“It’s important that people from the city know about Bulawayo Day. Bulawayo is a diverse city and our diversity makes us ‘Bulawayo’ and we should embrace it. Moving forward, we need events that will last a few days and raise enough awareness so that people don’t see this day like any other day on the calendar. This will also help us as artistes to interact with our local audiences,” said Ngadlangadla.

Meanwhile, Mpofu has said this year’s Bulawayo Arts Festival will not be as profound as last year’s, “largely because of the prevailing economy.”

A Young Leaders Conference is set to be held on Saturday as part of the celebrations of the city.

“We’ll bring in junior parliamentarians and junior councillors as well as head boys and head girls from the city’s schools to interact and be imparted by strong business leaders that are attending the conference. We hope the speakers will instil, not only leadership values among the youth but also be able to point them in terms of career guidance,” Mpofu said.

In 2019, the Bulawayo Cultural Affairs Office and Nhimbe Trust lobbied the Bulawayo City Council to declare June 1 the day of Bulawayo, and council acceded to the request. The day has been celebrated since then.