Artistes from different corners of the world are set to showcase the best of their creativity in Kigali. Organisers announced on Wednesday that the seventh edition of the Afropolitan Nomad festival 2020 is slated for July 7 to 11. Founded in 2012, this year’s festival is themed ‘Rising of African Culture and Arts through Gender Equality’ and the five-day event is organised by Huza Festival, a local company pioneering in festivals’ coordination, in partnership with Rwanda Culture Initiative. The festival was initiated by Africans living in Canada with an objective to promote the continent’s music. Festival performances will be held at two separate venues, with Kigali car-free zone lined up for ordinary performances and Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village for the VIPs. The latter will also host seminars on how players in the creative industry can make music and visual arts more profitable assets to explore. Jean-Pierre Kalonda, the festival coordinator, told the media that the festival will be a golden opportunity for local artistes to not only earn exposure, but also open doors for them to exhibit the best of their music on a global platform. “We are looking forward to seeing our local artistes sharing stages with international musicians and visual artistes and we hope, through the festival, their music will earn big exposure and connections to grow further. It is time for Rwandan music to grow and we hope festival participants will testify that our artistes have what it takes to challenge the world of music and arts in general,” Kalonda told the media on Wednesday. He urges Rwandan artistes to take advantage of the festival to showcase their music and meet other organisers to invite them to future festivals. Performances and art exhibitions will be at the centre of the festival to entertain music and visual art lovers. Besides performances, a conference has also been organised to bring festival participants together and share experiences on how best they can turn music into a more profitable asset. Christelle Kabagire, the festival’s brand ambassador, said the carnival will open doors to Rwandan artistes to use the platform to push their music beyond borders. It will bring together artistes from over 20 countries across the world including Canada, Haiti, France, Belgium and French-speaking African countries like Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Chad, Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, Tunisia and Rwanda, among others. Negotiations are ongoing between organisers and African artistes who will grace the festival, for example, Congolese artistes Ya Levis and Innoss’B, among others. Organisers will work closely with Rwanda Music Federation to select the local artistes who will participate in the festival.
