Harare — THE annual multi-disciplinary arts carnival the Young Africa Arts Festival which took place in Chitungwiza at the weekend, was a reflection of the abundance of untapped talent that lies in most high high-density suburbs throughout the country.

These are the places where youths lack proper support in terms of instruments and infrastructure to use, yet they are gifted with some of the finest talents whose lustre only becomes evident after numerous stakeholders in the arts industry chip in with the necessary resources and expertise.

The magnitude of this year's event was enhanced by the participation of Music Crossroads and Red Rose Entertainment, who gave the youths direction on how to venture into the arts industry.

The real competition was in the music category where a total of 18 groups from both Harare and Chitungwiza jostled to outclass one another for top honours. One artiste, Jowanisi Gatsi, from a group called Savannah, thrilled the audience as well as the judges with his conga-playing skills that could have left the talented Chibhodhoro green with envy.

No wonder the outfit's song Nyararisa Kuchema made it to the national finals of the Music Crossroads where they lost to Club Shanga and African Destiny.

The Zimbabwe International Film Festival also took the opportunity to screen some of the films running under their programme. These included short and feature films by Chitungwiza-based filmmaker Tafara Gondo, who showed residents of the town that some of the best talent is indeed found in high-density suburbs.