Vic Falls Carnival to welcome 2016 in style

While the local New Year’s celebration can be traced back to 1885, when David Livingstone decided to toast to the queen at the turn of the New Year, in 2012 Sean Young and Blessing Munyenyiwa founded the Vic Falls Carnival to continue this tradition. Now in its fourth edition, the festival has continually showcased artists from all over Southern Africa, and caters for all musical tastes for anyone ready to party into the New Year.

The vintage steam train will take party-goers on a journey through the Victoria Falls National Park to a secret location deep in the African bush. With local DJ's pumping tunes through the classic carriages, you'll be in full party mood when you disembark at the secret stage set up under the African skies. This year for the first time the carnival has opened up a second train for festival goers.

Zimbabwean producer, vocalist, guitarist and all round creative person Dennis Rwafa - popularly known as Zyon Black - will thrill party goers with his unique brand of bass music on 29 December aboard the steam train. Zyon crept up on the scene with his massive remix of Thomas Mapfumo's song ‘Nyoka Musango’. The remix quickly became a chart topper, getting playlisted on numerous radio stations globally. Zyon Black gained recognition and firmly placed himself as one of Zimbabwe's finest electronic music producers. Growing up on a diet of rock, hip-hop and dancehall, the Zyon Black philosophy both in the studio and on stage is built on one premise: no boundaries.

Also on board on the steam train is the 2013 winner of the DJ Idols competition, Harshai - better known as Bhana - who has solidified his place as a regular on the Zimbabwean club circuit. Having played at every major Zimbabwean club, Bhana is well known for his ability to read a crowd and to play for a variety of audiences and tastes. To complete this impressive DJ line-up is DJ Rax with his dynamic delivery of big tunes from highly praised clubs around Africa.

On 30 December, the organizers of the carnival have arranged for parties at multiple venues in town, which will be announced soon.

The main event will of course happen on 31 December at the Victoria Falls Primary School, where the likes of Mokoomba, Mango Groove, Goodluck and Jason Leroux are expected to perform. Hailing from Victoria Falls itself is the sextet of Mokoomba, with their unique blend of Tonga and Luvale traditional rhythms fused with dashes of funk, ska and soukous. The band has already toured countless countries around the world and has won numerous awards. Mango Groove’s career has spanned an exciting and turbulent time in South Africa’s history. Since its first iconic multi-platinum release in 1989, the band, together with its charismatic lead singer Claire Johnston, has gone on to become a household name in South Africa. To date, Mango Groove has sold over 750 000 albums in South Africa alone. South African electronic band Goodluck will inspire the audience with their radio-friendly electronic music, which has been hailed as truly African with the ability to cross over internationally.

To further boost the Southern African line-up, the carnival will welcome South African pop band MonArk, Botswana songstress Charma Gal, Cape Town's DJ Diloxclusiv, Zimbabwe's own Judgement Yard, Harare's singer-songwriter Ryan Koriya and Steam Train regular DJ Francis.

For more information visit the carnival’s website.