allAfrica.com: Uganda: Lessons From Swaziland's Bush Fire Festival (Page 1 of 1)

Bayimba International Music Festival director Faisal Kiwewa has a thing to learn from festival organisers in other parts of Africa and the world.

The youthful lad burnt his fingers last June after holding a poorly attended festival. Kiwewa blames inadequate publicity and sponsors who bailed out on him at the last minute leaving him knee-deep in debt. The high entrance fees at Shs10,000 per day and the fact that the festival concept is a little alien to entertainment seekers may have kept locals away.

His festival organising counterparts on the other side of the continent at Swaziland's Bush Fire Festival were put on the spot over the paltry representation of indigenous local Swazi acts on the performance bill. That became a sticking point after a group of arts journalists covering the festival (which I attended) asked why the Swazis were absent.

A scene from Andrew Whaley's play The Great Escape which parodies life in present-day Zimbabwe. photo by moses serugo

Bush Fire had only three local acts; Lilanga, a Franco-Swazi Afro-jazz piano and vocal act, DJ Wicked, a white Swazi disc jockey and Bholoja, a young Swazi musician who serves up hypnotic Swazi soul. These were eclipsed by the 13 South African acts who included Soweto String Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Stimela.

The Swazi government had already picked on this in the run up to the festival and slapped work permits on all the foreign acts which saw Festival Director Jiggs Thorne dig deeper into his pocket.

For someone that was hosting a festival for the second time, Thorne knows all too well the importance of big name international acts in drawing big crowds and sponsors. Commercial institutions like Standard Bank and MTN who had exclusive advertising presence each on designated festival nights will only commit their support in exchange for big attendance numbers.

The other issue at Bush Fire was whether the fiesta was nothing more than a European backpackers and expatriates playground. "Festivals are meant for a certain calibre of people that appreciate the finer arts," Thorne will tell you without clarifying if Swaziland is low on such high culture patrons.

High-ticket prices going for E180 (Shs37,000) apiece per festival night were also highlighted as favouring only affluent locals but there was a general consensus on the rich variety on offer at the festival, which introduced new acts to the insatiable audiences. Some of the standouts included Timbila Muzimba, an eight-piece orchestra from Mozambique that builds layers of harmony in massive and loud percussion, melodic balafons and rhythmic rap.

Lilanga, a musical collaboration between France and Swaziland comprising the pretty Swazi chanteuse Bongiwe Dlamini and French pianist Vincent Chaudry revealed the desire for cross-cultural fusion.

There were politically charged poems from the Canadian-born poet Croc-E-Moses, a comic take on the turmoil in Zimbabwe in Andrew Whaley's play The Great Escape, Afro punk rock from the uninhibited Tarika Be outfit from Madagascar, hypnotic Swazi soul from budding World Music star Bholoja and seasoned performances from Soweto String Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and 80s South African bubblegum pop outfit Stimela, all of which created an eclectic treat for which territorial borders were secondary.

This may have some asking if Kiwewa put on his festival prematurely before growing a local audience for the concept first. "Bayimba was mostly to expose under appreciated Ugandan (world) musicians who insist on performing live accompanied by a band," says Kiwewa who dislikes artistes that sing off pre-recorded CD tracks.

The line-up last June included the Kora-nominated Susan Kerunen, folk pop songbird Sarah Ndagire, Afro-jazz band Bax'mba Waves, Rwandese star Mako Nikoshwa, Soul Beat Africa, Percussion Discussion Africa, musical prodigy Joel Sebunjo Sundiata and Ugandan traditional music instrumentalist Albert Sempeke. Those that attended the festival will laud Kiwewa for not cutting logistical corners and delivering an ample stage, good sound and lighting. Pre-festival workshops also yielded a rare synergy between dance troupes in the region showcased in the colourful opening sequence at the festival's opening night.

After losing so much money in the process, Kiwewa is back at the drawing board plying the festival circuit to see how he can do things differently and build strong partnerships. Kiwewa has been to Morocco's Gnaoua and Agadir festivals and is attending another in Holland this month. "We are doing away with the theme nights in 2009," he says.

His plan is to tenaciously change the Ugandan entertainment mindset from the Ekitoobero, Ekiggunda and Oluwombo stadium radio station fetes to getting patrons appreciate all that is on offer at a festival. His plan is also to waive the entrance fee at next year's festival and build strategic partnerships with government institutions like the Ministries of Culture and Tourism.

"The plan is to make the festival part of the national tourism calendar and have the Kampala City Council play a bigger role as the festival hosts," says Kiwewa. Maybe the government will extend him a line of credit upon realising the tourism dollars that may accrue from next year's festival.

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