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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
THE inaugural Bulawayo Arts Festival (BAF) has come and gone with organisers being commended for going on with the event and creating a platform that unearthed a lot of talent from the city.

The festival which ran concurrently with the city’s 126th anniversary celebrations, was staged at the Bulawayo City Hall. Due to the lockdown restrictions, it was not open to the public and was instead streamed online.

The three-day festival which kicked off last Wednesday saw established musicians such as Jeys Marabini, Sandra Ndebele, Nkwali, Cal Vin, Indosakusa: The Morningstar, Ngoma iNgoma, theatre groups; Umkhathi, Victory Siyanqoba and poets Mgcini Nyoni, Lady Tshawe and Philani Nyoni giving polished performances. Selmor Mtukudzi was also roped in to spice up the festivities and she did not disappoint.
Untapped talents such as Vuyo Brown, Western Kazinz, Zhezhingtons, Fish F McSwagg Obhudi bespace (of the Zankaleli fame) were a revelation. Discussions on culture, theatre and arts were also conducted over the three days.

What stood out the most, other than the worldclass performances, was the stage, lighting and general organisation of the event. It was clear a lot of work was put in, especially considering that there was not much need to go all out since there was not going to be a live audience. But, the organisers clearly had standards and a well-thought out vision for their event.

When one attends a festival, they usually have to go to different venues to watch their favourite form of art, but with the BAF, everything was held on one platform and nicely packaged into two to three-hour productions over the three days. This was a good idea as it exposed the diverse range of artistes to the online audience.

Those who watched the festival on the festival’s Facebook page felt that the artistes need support and promotion especially online, where all events are now being shown because of the ban on public gatherings.

One of the organisers of the event, Josh Nyapimbi said they were pleased with the outcome of the festival.

While other events have been cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nyapimbi said they decided to go ahead with theirs as they saw it as a good opportunity to promote the event online.

On the viewership of the event which left a lot to be desired online as about 200 people watched during the live broadcasts, Nyapimbi said: “The numbers that matter to the organisers were achieved through Skyz Metro’s FM’s Top 100 show and Live Streaming. Suffice to say, our primary focus is growing local audience and consumption out of the realisation that some of our internationally acclaimed artists are yet to achieve huge audiences locally.”

In order to monetise on the event, Nyapimbi said they are considering coming up with a ticketing system so that people pay to watch the festival online.

“In 2021, we will introduce a capped ticketing system where ticket buyers will have a window of 30 hours to watch, similar to video on demand rental. We want to target local household level viewership as well as mobile viewers,” said Nyapimbi.

The festival is the brainchild of Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and technical partner Nhimbe Trust.  Follow on Twitter @bonganinkunzi