Marafiki Music Festival starts today

The fourth edition of the Marafiki Music Festival, which brings over 120 artists from different parts of the world for live performances, starts today, October 5, 2023, at the Makumbusho Village Museum grounds.

The four-day festival starts with a parade at Kinondoni Manyanya at the Art for Social and Economic Development in Africa (ASEDEVA) towards Makumbusho Village.

Speaking to The Beat, ASEDEVA director, Isack Abeneko, says the festival will start with six performances tonight.

“This year, we started by giving back to the community by doing cleanliness at Mwananyamala Regional Referral Hospital to remind the community that festivals are not only about entertainment.

“For Marafiki music festivals, arts and festivals are not just for showcasing music talents and entertaining people. We are using music as a tool to remind society that everyone has a role to play when it comes to supporting development,” he says.

He said that despite the fact that the original goal of the festival was to bring together music stakeholders to showcase their work as they interact and create more opportunities this year, the Marafiki team widened its reach and chose to accommodate the health sector with what they could afford.

“Mwananyala Hospital is close to our offices; that’s why we chose to go and clean,” adds Abeneko.

He said they were currently talking to Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT) for them to be able to identify the needy people with eye problems who are unable to afford to buy the glasses to be given for free.

The festival will close on October 7, 2023, ready to continue the next day at Firefly in Bagamoyo at 6:30 p.m. for four days.

This year’s festival is part of the SANAAPR0 project that supports the creative industry in Tanzania through the France Embassy.

The France Embassy representative, Etienne Pellausy, said through the project, they have been able to support different musicians from across the globe to come to the festival and perform, as well as exchanging skills and knowledge with the local musicians.

He mentioned Simangavole, a female band performing the traditional yet powerful Maloya rhythm, the music of the slaves of Reunion Island, who will perform tomorrow.

Other artists are Dulla Makabila, Damian Soul, Msafiri Zawose, Amini Mwinyimkuu, Carola Kinasha, Leo Mkanyia, Baba Kash, Kadilida, Hokororo, Hussein Masimbi, KOm Zot, Aamoka, Simangavole, Teacher Oliver, Sun xa Eperiment, Jemedari, Fadhile Itulia, and Salma Munde.

Marafiki Festival manager, Upendo Manase, says for the first three days, the festival prepared a Nyota Njema workshop to make room for music stakeholders to interact and have a dialogue on different topics around arts and music.

“This year, the Nyota Njema workshop will be more practical on copyrights and the importance of social networking platforms, online visibility, and opportunities in the music industry. The workshop accommodates a lot of people,” says Manase.

She says the tickets are sold at Sh10,000 per day, Sh20,000 for three days, and Sh15,000 per day at the gate on the event day.

Baba Kash is among the other musicians who will perform later tonight. He says he is looking forward to a thrilling performance, as he has been applying over the years to get that opportunity, but in vain.

“I am happy to be part of the line-up this year. Performing live gives you more skills and builds teamwork among band members. Along with that, it employs more people as it involves playing different instruments,” says Baba Kash.

Sponsors of the festival include Firefly Bagamoyo, Times FM, Slow Leopard, Marafiki Safaris, Alliance Française—Dar es salaam, and Acto Lights.

Others are the Ministry of Culture, the National Arts Council, the National Museum, Sauti za Busara, Music In Africa, Ongala Music Festival, Hip Hop Asili Festival, Kwetu Bagamoyo, and Alliance Française-Arusha.

Marafiki Music Festival is the music festival that brings local and international artists to showcase their music (100% live), offer music education via professional workshop training, celebrate cultural diversity, and connect through music.

ASEDEVA is an art non-profit organisation working in Tanzania with the aim of organising various cultural and art projects, events, and trainings for artists and creating performances benefiting local artists, groups, and the Tanzanian performing arts community as a whole.