Intwasa festival to be held at The Byo City Hall Car Park

THE Bulawayo City Council has finally made the most logical decision by relenting to the request by Intwasa Arts Festival KoBulawayo to use its facility, The City Hall Car Park, a request they denied the festival last year.

The car park is situated in a central area in the city and over the years Intwasa has been using it, enabling the festival to attract audiences that might otherwise not have been able attended the arts showcase.
 
The BCC as the main institution in Bulawayo has an obligation to avail all the resources at hand to Intwasa as the festival is an initiative to revive the floundering cultural life of the City of Kings.

The BCC stands to gain a lot by ensuring that Intwasa succeeds, as the festival is likely to attract tourists into the city thus marketing it and bringing in more people into Bulawayo.

Intwasa director Raisedon Baya said they were happy that the local authority has finally relented to their request and were hoping the city will in the future take a bigger role in the hosting of the festival.

"The offices of the Mayor and Governor were instrumental in the setting up of the festival, hence we do not understand why the city wants to take a back seat and do not feel that they own the festival.
 
"We want them to play a bigger part as the benefits will also accrue to the city if we manage to grow the festival, the local authority and businesses will profit from the festival," he said.

BCC had previously acceded to let Intwasa use the City Hall and the car park but changed its mind in 2009 as the city authorities said Intwasa "should have never been given access to the area because it is as a public space and should not be closed."

Baya said they have persevered in trying to convince the city to give them access to the car park.

Two years ago, Bulawato turned down the request by but the arts organisation did not give up as they felt the BCC played a critical role in the success of the festival.
 
Cities worldwide have played a critical in hosting cultural events with the City of Aberdeen, Scotland, being involved in the festival hosted by that city.

In South Africa authorities from Johannesburg play a critical role in Jo'burg Comes Alive, a vibrant music festival held in that city.

"Maybe, with resources permitting, there is a need to take some of the councillors to festivals elsewhere so that they have an idea of how festivals work in other towns.

"During Hifa we have the whole Harare Gardens closed down with people having to pay to get in," he said.

"We are hoping that in the long run there will be a cultural office in the council with a budget if Bulawayo is ever dreaming of regaining its status as the cultural capital of the country."

While the city agreed that Intwasa uses the car park, they refused to allow them to close it down and charge for entrance during performances. However, the council expects the festival to pay a yet to be set fee for the use of the car park.

Baya, a renowned theatre playwright and director, said they will have to use it for free performances and also as an information centre.

"We will be able to direct people to other venues where performances are taking place through that centre and give people whatever information that they might need pertaining to the festival," he added.

This year's festival runs from 19 to 25 September and will be held over seven days to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the multi-disciplinary arts showcase.

It will be held under the theme, 'Art without Boundaries.'