LACK of funds has caused the cancellation of this year's Summer Festival in Morogoro Region.

The event's Programme Coordinator, Xavier Mhagama, himself a performing artist, provided 'Daily News' with this explanation in his Dar es Salaam office.

He also said that another underlying factor for this was the fact that some of their organising members were too busy with other engagements, at various times throughout the year. This made it impossible for the organising team to handle preparations within the available time.

Not having funds at hand exacerbated this process. "A number of artistes had already completed their individual preparations for the event so were a little disappointed to hear it was cancelled. However, they just had to accept the reality for what it is and hope we are able to get the required funds so that we can hold next year's event," Mhagama, who is better known as BX in local circles added.

Further, with regards to the issue of cancelling this year's episode of the festival, the 'Daily News' took hold of the opportunity to seek an audience with the retired officer from the Ministry of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Nkwama Ballanga.

He seats as the Chairperson of the Tanzania Performing Arts Association (CHASAMATA), which is responsible for the overall organising of this annual event. Currently, the festival's organisers are busy looking for funds and according to Ballanga whenever they have enough in-hand they intend holding the event, without waiting for next November.

The reason for this is because, he says, they want to motivate the artistes and believe the sooner they do this the better. The reason he gave for holding the event in Morogoro Region is simply because it is more central than Dar es Salaam.

There is also the fact that expense there is less than in the commercial capital city of Dar es Salaam. This covers expenses incurred when hiring guest houses, hotels and halls.