HIFA ‘08
Harare International Festival of the Arts
Yeah, that’s right. I’m gonna try and blog HIFA this year. Of course I won’t be seeing all the shows, and of course I can only comment on my experiences, so this is by no means comprehensive ‘coverage’ or anything of that sort. This is, as usual, all about me. Enjoy (or not).
Monday 5th - Wow. That was one heavy week! Saturday was interesting - was feeling like hammered shit because of the massive night before, but still made the Canaman reggae band and the CocaCola DJ party! Canaman was awesome, those are an immensely talented bunch of rastas - and with reggae music that’s when you really tell the quality of the sound system. The DJ Party? Well, Zubz is a great MC, and the place was rocking. BUT left at 1 am cos I was about to fall down with fatigue. Did I make Tuku on Sunday? Hell no!
So that’s the Harare International Festival of the Arts done for another year. Overall, I reckon for me this was the best one yet. Good vibes, good company, good booze, good times were had by all. Wicked!
Saturday 3rd - The Friday night show is one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Freshly Ground are one bad fucking band, a bunch of highly talented folks. And that little girl? She’s got pipes! Unbelievable. AND they sang Bob Marley’s ‘Zimbabwe’. And then ‘True Love’ as an encore. Orgasmic.
Friday 2nd - Massive party with Transit Crew on the Green, for free. Thos rastas are bad, it was a lekker reggae party. And at midnight? Loius Mhlanga came on stage and jammed with them. Oh. My. God.
Thursday 1st - Jazz Invitation with Louis Mhlanga and Prudence Katomeni. Twice. For free. Awesome. Then Liverpool lost. So not awesome.
Wednesday 30th April 10:00am - Hot damn! The opening night was awesome! Picked up Minnie Mouse and got to the Harare Gardens around 7pm, and was there any parking? Fuck no. There were cars on the islands, cars dbl-parked, cars everywhere. Ended up parking in front of the church opposite Nassa. We grabbed some burgers and headed off to the main stage, which was chock full.
A sea of chairs and a crowd at the edges, so we barely saw anything. The sound was awesome though, and the show was kinda … interesting. Let’s just say the President character sang ‘Never can say goodbye’ and at times it felt like a rally. Chiwoniso also sang the shit out of ‘Zombie’, and the whole thing was awesome. There were also some kids who did ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ and damn, they sang well (until the Hyena characters came and murdered them). Those are some brave fuckers, those HIFA people.
Minnie loved the fireworks show, which was shorter than last year’s, and we did a little post-show chilldown on the Coke Green, where Charles ‘White Rasta’ Summerfield and his band URJ were belting out some pretty wicked smooth reggae. All in all, a good night.
Tuesday 29th April 09:08am - Zim is weird, man. Got to CABS Avondale to collect my billion dollars, and stood in the queue for an hour. Ho-hum. Then, to my extreme shock and surprise, I went to the HIFA box office in front of Nando’s and they still had FreshlyGround tickets! Rumour had it they were sold out, and the (kinda cute) girl in the booth said they will at any time. Lucky bastard, me. Also scored two for DREAMLAND tonight - fireworks and candles? Bring it on.
