Malawi’s Lake of Stars festival lives up to it’s ‘discovery’ billing

Following a successful 15th anniversary Lake of Stars festival last year,  the 2019 edition  dubbed Lake of Stars Discovery took place from 27 to 29 September in the remote setting of Nkhata Bay District at Kachere Kastle.

LoS Discovery was run as a boutique festival at Kachere Kastle, a stunning lodge built in the style of a Moroccan castle on the lakeshore in northern Malawi.

Lake of Stars Discovery was a chance to enjoy music from new and established artists alongside inspiring talks, poetry, theatre, film, art and wellness activities, in a stunning setting by the lake.

Kick starting the festival, Lake of Stars on Friday, joined Malawi in celebrating World Tourism Day.

Speaking in an interview, LoS Country Coordinator Yolanda Ng’oma said tourism is the biggest employment sector in the world, largely driven by the youth and creative sector.

“This year’s Lake of Stars Discovery follows the tradition of attracting overseas visitors to travel to Malawi and experience the beauty and culture of the warm heart of Africa, whilst providing much needed forex.

“We are proud to be part of an extraordinary experience that promotes our beautiful country and diverse culture while creating opportunities for artists, youth, communities and a future of sustainable tourism,” Ng’oma said.

LoS Discovery was more than an arts and craft festival. The festival also featured competitions, environmental and health workshops as well as Chitenje Changa monologues.

Hosted by Rina, C-Zee and DJ Goxxy, the festival saw international acts Moon Child Sanelly, Amanda Black, DJ Lag sharing the stage with Praise Umali, Lazarus, The King’s Riffle, Sangie, Piksy, Suffix, RJ the DJ and DJ Drew.

In his remarks, King Kananji of The King’s Riffle, one of LoS debutants described their performance as incredible.

“We wanted to show the audience a unique story and I think we achieved that. The audience’s energy really amplified  the whole experience,  cant thank them enough,” King Kananji said.

He added: “Our objective was to bring the real Malawian story to the people in a hip hop format, we covered the good and the bad and showed them how Malawian hip hop gets down.

“We feel like we gave the audience an authentic and uniquely  hip hop experience in that sense.”

The King’s Rifles is a group formed in 2018 comprised of SoulAmp Entertainment artists Phi-Ella, King Kananji and Bassik.

According to Kananji, the group was formed as a result of the members wanting to make commentary of the socio-political situation in Malawi, Africa and globally.

The festival reached its climax around 8 pm on Saturday when Faith Mussa, one of the headline artists from Malawi, took to the stage to perform.

Mussa entertained the audience with his magical way of playing the guitar which made the audience to keep on asking for more music from him.

Another impressive performance came from South African songbird Amanda Black who gave out her best.

Amanda, who sang for about an hour, impressed the audience with her Zulu love songs.

Upcoming dancehall artist Malinga Mafia stole the show with his song Too Many and it was his first time to perform at the Lake of Stars.

Other upcoming artists that performed at the festival include Jacaranda School of Music and Lazarus and Raising Malawi Band.

This year’s Lake of Stars also gave platform to upcoming poets to showcase their talent to the international audience.

Lake of Stars project has been working to promote Malawian music, culture and tourism.

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