I met a guy in the croud called Håvard Heradstveit, it sounds nothing like the way you spell it, he and his 2 other friends from the Netherlands were in Zimbabwe drilling a borehole for a dissadvantaged school and community and they were leaving the next day (Saturday) he said he was happy that something was happening in the city because they hadn't seen or experienced Zimbabwe much. He says it's a beautiful country with smart and kind people and he wishes to be back, so jacaranda fest had an eclectic mix of people in attendance
Arrived with my friend Alex (ZEZURU ROCKSTAR) and received our media accreditation and made our way into the festival.
Jacaranda fest, was my first time attending and I got there relatively early it was cool moist and cloudy... All week there hadn't been any rains but there were light showers coming in and out for the first hour I was there and I was a bit concerned because there were people with good energy having fun but at that point the crowd was still a bit thin, but the show went on, it was fairly easy to get around stage / backstage and security wasn't too difficult to deal with,witch is sometimes a pain. While backstage met 2 industry friends of mine who give me good confidance in the future wave of Zimbabwean music Sylent Nqo & Bryan K who were both set to hit the stage and they both had really engaging sets that helped set a mood for the festival.. The line up on Friday was amazing with performance from ishan,roqui,mansa and ammara brown ....
All electrifying and all marinating the crowd for the treat ahead with black motion. I can't lie and say I was a fan before I just knew a few songs that I didn't know was theirs in the 1st place, as the acts continued there were more and more people in black coming in and as blackmotion hit the stage it was a done deal, I was sold on Jacaranda festival and I became a black motion fan....if you were there too I'm sure you can understand my sentiments... Blackmotion shut it down and I was stuck between taking shots and clips and also enjoying my festival experience I also even bumped into Walter the organizer of the festival out in the crowd enjoying the show too... I feel like people like him and his team are the type of people who we need to be elevated in the entertainment industry because I've kinda from a distance seen him in his journey and have attended earlier shows with smaller venues and crowds that weren't so big but the execution has always been on point so it made sense for him to have artists like brush Hugh Masekela & Tuku just to mention some certified legends...
Saturday I was unfortunately missed out on the afternoon vibe because I was held up longer at a birthday party but eventually I made it and just in time for one of my favorite up coming and reaching for the stars artist Tammy and she came through as expected even introducing a new song that noone had ever heard and the fans received it and sang along, I think her approach and boldness is something that will help her continue flourishing plus she's also humble af and a plus is she's visually appealing not just looks but styling and presentation. So definitely look out for her, we were gifted with the nostalgic Ringo and he definitely did his thing I had to keep checking who was on stage though because sometimes it would sound like he called Bryan K to the stage to help him, tried to get a picture of the 2 of them together backstage but his security insisted that he was now tired of taking pictures although he himself seemed like he still wanted a few more but it wasn't that deep I guess... Soon after that dj Zinhle came through into the vip and helped Ringo by taking some of the cameras and fans attention as mokomba hit the stage so as a fan of mokomba I wasn't backstage for too long because it was about to go down, this was for sure my favorite part of the Saturday line-up.... 3 years ago at another show Walter hosted through Ngoma ne Hosho at the 7 arts was the first time I had heard them and they have such a distinct Zimbabwean sound and you hear it without needing to have heard it before so three years later for me and multiple world tours for them I could see a lot of growth in the group but more in the fans appreciation for them because it just feels like the world outside accepts them more than their own and I commend them for their success. But back to the show, they made us dance,smile and enjoy. I was just glad to know that there were a lot of people preset who hadn't had the pleasure of watching them perform.
In the midst of the current economic and political situation it's a miracle that the festival came together the way it did and I personally know a lot of people who would have attended but weren't able to, for those that did I'm sure there were no regrets, for myself it was really a breath of fresh air and good vibes. Dj Zinhle was a good touch to shut the festival down and she had fans in attendance patiently waiting and it was just a big party as she dropped hit after hit and as her set came to an end so did the 2019 Jacaranda Festival as people made their way to the traffic outside.
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