From the 10th to the 12th of November this year one of East Africa’s leading cultural events the Babamoyo festival will be taking place at the about 2000 seat new theater of the prestigious Bagamoyo College of Arts (TASUBA) in Tanzania which in unarguably the largest theater in East Africa
The 41st International Bagamoyo Arts Festival is the largest and most important cultural festival on the Tanzanian mainland. It takes place annually in October or November every year and is a colorful mix of music, theater, dance, discussions and exhibitions.
It features epic cultural contents spanning the length and breath of Tanzania with traditional music performances, rendition of cultural ballads, calisthenics, acrobats, ventriloquist, magicians and performance of all sorts and what not.
Several dozen cultural groups from all parts of Tanzania take part in the festival. As well as cultural groups from other African countries and occasionally guest groups from Europe.
The festival has existed since 1982, one year after the Bagamoyo College of Arts (TASUBA) was founded. Originally, the festival, organized by the college, was supposed to be a platform to present the results of the artistic work of the college students to the local population of Bagamoyo. However, due to the media coverage, groups from outside also soon registered for the festival. The number of participating artists increased every year. It quickly developed into a national cultural event and has also had an international character since 1986.
The Bagamoyo Festival of Arts and Culture has gained extraordinary popularity as it brings together local and international artists and audiences from around the world. Over the past 4 decades , the festival has become the most important art event in Tanzania.
Some of the goals of the festival is aimed at promoting social awareness of key institutional activities, exposing and supporting activities of local artists, and promoting the network between local and international artists to promote mutual cultural exchange and to recognize the contribution of local artists to the development of art and culture in Tanzania and Art as an instrument for combating poverty.
Guests are expected from Africa and beyond to participate and witness the 3 day event ,as it offers individual artists and groups the opportunity to apply to participate in order to demonstrate their talents and skills in both the visual arts (exhibitions) and the performing arts (dance, theater, music, etc.)
