Unplugged Festival Zimbabwe returns to Harare
Mako Jerera
Unplugged Festival Zimbabwe, the coolest live music event in Zimbabwe is back after two years of missing in action and the first show is scheduled for July 3, 2022 in the scenic Harare gardens.
Unplugged Festival Zimbabwe is an aspirational family friendly experience around live music, food and urban culture. It is best known for constantly delivering a live music experience like no other. The festival brings together local people and visitors from all over Harare.
Announcing the return of the show on most social media platforms, the show organisers expressed regret for ever having to leave in the first place, falling short of calling it a mistake. Of course little choice did they have due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s been a long time, we shouldn’t have left you…THE UNPLUGGED FESTIVAL RETURNS!,” they said in a statement.
Unplugged provides a conducive and receptive platform for established and budding musicians to share their talents. Audiences are encouraged to come down with a blanket or a picnic chair, a bottle of wine and picnic basket, a bunch of friends or family to share the experience.
Launched in 2013, and born out of the desire to create an afternoon outdoor family friendly event, Unplugged grew to become Harare’s premier monthly entertainment event, featuring the country’s best up and coming as well as established talent.
Since the beginning, the event has been held at least 50 times and has hosted 128 unique acts and 22 DJs. Local musicians who have performed at Unplugged monthly concerts include Winky D, Victor Kunonga, Alexio Kawara, Tehn Diamond, Mokoomba, Prayer Soul, Edith WeUtonga, and Ammara Brown among others. South African artist Shekhinah and DJ Zinhle have also headlined the event in previous editions.
Unplugged goes beyond just being an event but it’s also a platform for developing Zimbabwean arts, offering opportunities for young artists. In July 2018, Unplugged launched its artist’s development programme where they trained 15 young musicians.
Co-founder of Unplugged Zimbabwe, Chiedza Danha confirmed to TateguruTv that the first show will be in July, exact date to be announced by the end of the week.
“The first show will be on July 3, 2022. The line up will include the very best of Zimbabwean talent as well as up and coming artists. We will also have non-Zimbabwean acts. You can expect a return to the vibey, urbane, experiential Unplugged of old. The focus will be on the audience experience from the moment they walk in. Without giving away too much, we want Unpluggers to be dizzy with curiosity at all the new additions they see,” she said.
Chiedza explained that the reason for being “MIA” was due to the pandemic. “We took a two and half year hiatus on account of the pandemic. It was important to us to act responsibly and not compromise the public’s health and safety. Public good is intrinsic to our brand. We would also never compromise the reputations of our brand partners who are all leading names in the market”
The monthly showcase, Unplugged Zimbabwe is undoubtedly the coolest music promotion entity in the country. Once a month, hundreds of Harare bougie types, many of them young professionals, congregate at whatever venue the event is taking place at it moves every time and spend an afternoon listening to live music, sipping on wine and beer, munching burgers and chips and catching up on the latest social, political and economic news.
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