Rumbidzai Mbewe
THE countdown for the annual Victoria Falls Carnival has already begun with the resort town’s hotels and lodges reportedly almost fully booked for the event.
The carnival is scheduled to run from 29 to 31 December this year.
A number of artistes from different Southern African countries are billed for various performances.
An organiser of the event, Emmanuel Tivatyi said they were geared up for the festival, as preparations were at an advanced stage.
“I can safely say that everything is falling into place and everyone is making sure that this carnival is a success. Posters have been placed everywhere in Victoria Falls so that no one is left out,” he said.
Emmanuel said this year they also included programmes that the local community would benefit from.
He said the second day of the festival had been set aside for the community giving tourists the opportunity to mingle with locals.
“On the 30th we are going to have parties around the town for the local people to benefit. Tourists will have the opportunity to engage with the community in the evening. The Vic Falls Carnival is not only about entertaining people but giving back to the community as well. We want the community to get something out of the carnival,” he said.
Emmanuel added that the party train was the most popular event and that they had since increased its capacity.
“We have noticed that a lot of people are interested in the party train and so we have increased its capacity from 900 to 1 500. This year there will be two trains, currently the first train is full and tickets for the second train are on sale,” he said.
Besides the train parties, Emmanuel said there will be artistes and DJs playing adrenalin pumping music.
“The festival is going to be thrilling. Many artistes will be coming from around Southern Africa including our very own Mokoomba and Judgment Yard. Those who also want to experience the Victoria Falls local films will have the chance to do that,” he said.
Emmanuel added that the carnival was also an event to boost Zimbabwe’s tourism sector.
“We were riding low when this festival began because the tourism sector was not lucrative at that time. We kept going and now the festival is growing bigger and better every year. We are happy that we are playing a good part in increasing the tourism sector revenue.
‘People are now interested in being part of the festival and this is shown by the growing numbers of people attending the carnival. Everyone wants to be a part of it and it has always been our dream to see people coming from different parts of the world to celebrate together in dance and music,” said Emmanuel.
Artistes such as Mango Groove, GOODLUCK, Monark, Charma Gal, Mokoomba, Ryan Koriya, Jason Le Roux, Judgement Yard, Diloxclusiv, Rax, Bahna, Zyon Black and DJ Francis are expected to grace the event.