The Sauti za Busara Music festival begins on Friday in the afternoon with a four-kilometre carnival parade,The annual music festival in Zanzibar is a showcase of the best and most exciting African music.
The festival includes more than 40 musical groups, hailing from Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, West Africa and Europe.
African Music – under African Skies. Sauti za Busara is the annual music event in Zanzibar East Africa and widely known as ‘the friendliest festival on the planet’.
The 9th edition of Sauti za Busara takes place 8 – 12 February 2012, featuring:
400 musicians: that’s forty groups, with twenty from Tanzania and twenty from other parts of Africa; urban and rural, acoustic and electric, established and upcoming.
Carnival Street Parade: setting alight the streets on Day 2, the biggest parade to hit Stone Town, including beni brass band, ngoma drummers, mwanandege umbrella women, stilt-walkers, capoeira dancers, acrobats… and surprises.
Four nights in the historic Old Fort: In Stone Town, the main programme continues Thursday through Sunday with non-stop 100% live performances (no playback!) daily from 5pm until 1am.
African Music Films: documentaries, music clips, videos and live concert footage.
Seminars and Training Workshops: Building skills for artists, managers, music journalists, filmmakers, sound and lighting technicians from the East Africa region.
Movers & Shakes: Daily networking forum for local and visiting arts professionals.
Festival marketplace: local food and drinks, music, jewellery, clothing and handicrafts.
Busara Xtra: Around the festival, the island is buzzing with a range of fringe events: traditional ngoma drum and dance, fashion shows, dhow races, open-mic sessions, after-parties and performances of Zanzibar’s oldest Taarab orchestras are all arranged by the local community.
