The Harare International Festival of the Arts kicked off yesterday with a number of performances at the various festival venues.
The venues for this year’s festival include the ZOL Main Stage, Zimgold Green, Global Stage at Theatre in the Park, BAT Global Stage, The Standard Theatre, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, OK Zimbabwe First Street and Reps Theatre. Although activity was low at some of the venues yesterday afternoon, which is characteristic of the first day, some venues were lively.
Among the most active venues was the OK Zimbabwe First Street platform that had various performances in the afternoon. The performers included Prince Edward Jazz Band, Joep Pelt, Soul Bone and Music Crossroads Divas.
The platform, which was this year set up as a collaborative effort between OK Zimbabwe and Hifa, saw people enjoying the performances for free.The First Street venue had always been a platform for free performances and has afforded various people that do not go to the festival’s other venues an opportunity to have a feel of the festival.
Young performers from Prince Edward Jazz band serenaded people that gathered at the venue with their exciting jazz tunes.Joep Pelt from Netherlands did a solo performance with his guitar and got loads of applause from onlookers.He said he has performed in many countries and is happy to be part of Hifa.
“I am happy to be here. I am pleased to have worked with Hope Masike from here who is a good player of the thumb piano. This is an exciting festival for me,” he told people while he was on stage.
Music Divas from Music Crossroads also did an exciting performance that left fans asking for more.The festival continues today with performances in music, dance, theatre and visual arts. It runs until Sunday with under the theme “Staging an Intervention”.
