Southern Africa unites for Vic Falls Carnival

Of the more exciting feats about this festival is that it truly does encourage a Cape-to-Cairo type voyage with overland trucks transporting revelers from as far as Cape Town through Botswana and finally into northern Zimbabwe. So on top of the adventurous activities offered at Victoria Falls - the music and meeting new people - this is a positive nod towards encouraging travel within the continent

The three-day festival started with a rush to the Bulawayo Train Station, where all those who managed to get tickets to Jafuta Lodge in Vic Falls National Park enjoyed a few hours of good music and high spirits aboard the train. Very few things are as thrilling as the prospect of partying up a storm in the middle of a National Park - not to mention the added adrenaline rush of possibly running into a lion bobbing its head to Bob Marley, but that was not to be. Zyon Black and DJ Rax were excellent guides on this adventure.

Over the course of the three days, the second day still remains the most ambiguous to figure out. The music direction of the two parties, walking distance from each other - one at Shoestrings Backpackers and the other at Invuvu Bar - was a bit confusing to say the least. There was nothing mind-blowing between the two gigs. Seed Experiences’ marketing manager alluded to the changes, saying that the following year they were hoping for better orchestration and even the possibility of an international act.

The third and final day, not only of the festival but of 2015, began with in the afternoon where Botswana’s traditional music-meets-rumba-and-kwasa kwasa star Charmer Gal won her way into the hearts of the many Batswana who had gathered to see her perform hit songs like ‘Sekuta’. Following her was the globe-trotting Victoria Falls group Mokoomba, setting the place ablaze with their infectious world music sounds, and leaving you feeling like they should’ve been put much later in the line-up so that a lot more people were present to appreciate them.

Mango Groove came on next. Kicks, jabs and lost voices became the order of the day as everyone tried to dance and sing along in an effort to show the legendary South Africa group the love they so deserved, before DJ Diloexclusiv sent everyone into an even dizzier spell. By the time Goodluck from Cape Town came on to ring in the new year, the party had escalated further. When the final performers of the festival - local group Judgement Yard - came on and threw in Zim-Dancehall star Winky D’s ‘Disappear’, there was no better way to end the festival and say goodbye to 2015.

Though a resounding success, hopes remain that the 2016 edition of the Vic Falls Carnival will see some of the festival’s glitches sorted out – and perhaps even the complicated economics of the Zimbabwean currency resolved. And of course it wouldn’t hurt if Winky D himself will be added to the line-up…