ILembe Music Fest lives up to its Awesome name

The third Awesome Ilembe Music Festival takes place on December 27 on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast in Groutville. And this year the day long festival promises to live up to its namesake and be awesome. 

Gabi Nkabinde, a member of the festivals management team said that this unique festival is a concept that's been on the table even before the festival began. "It’s based on the fact that in order for musicians and artists to be sustainable, their immediate community need to support them. You need to develop a local based audience so that artists can create their own performance spaces where the community support them. We need to start creating new, innovative platforms where artists and communities interact." 

Festival goers can expect to see fresh talent from the Ilembe District as well as some of South Africans top performers such as Mafikizolo, Duncan and Zahara. The theme for the festival is Music for the People, by the People. "The festival is simple, so yes there will be food and a bar, but mainly we want people to come for the music", she said. 

So why Groutville? Nkabinde said, "We’ve been focusing on the Ilembe District for the last 3 years, and the festival has moved around within the district. We also have a strong link with the Luthuli Museum, it’s one of the most inspiring places. They really encourage the arts to grow, so instead of starting something from scratch it’s better to build on existing pillars". Another member of the festival, Thalia Erwin, said that even though the festival is held in Groutville, the other surrounding districts have been involved in the process. "The venue is not as important as the concept of developing the arts within communities", Erwin said. 

Apart from awesome musical performances, festival goers can also expect food demos from chefs Sherwyn Weaich and Lentswe Bhengu. "Both Sherwyn and Lentswe are passionate about developing communities and encouraging healthy lifestyles. Diabetes and other diet related issues are on the rise. They are both conscious of existing diets based around economics and food accessibility. Their demonstration will focus on taking these diets and turning them into something healthy. It’s exciting to see young entrepreneurs get involved in social issues, it’s all about changing our mind set and moving forward consciously", Erwin said. 

The festival will also be holding a journalism workshop at the Luthuli Museum "The workshop will be run by esteemed journalist Niren Tolsi, the workshops are free and we encourage the community to get involved. These workshops are aimed at sharing knowledge and inciting healthy debates about music, the arts and development", Nkabinde said. The workshop is also a space where people can talk to musicians, ask questions and listen to their stories about how they got to where they are now. 

Nkabinde also said that there are plans ahead to make the festival bigger and better than what it is. "We will always have great plans, plans to make artists and the arts sustainable and obtainable. We talk about making artists sustainable, but we ourselves as an organisation need to strive to achieve that ourselves. Currently we rely on funding from Department of Arts and Culture or the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) , so we can never guarantee the future". 

"This is the sad part of funded events, we are trying to achieve long term goals with short term funding. However, we believe passionately in the arts, so we will not stop until we have reached our goals. The Department of Arts and Culture have been hugely supportive over the years, in particular with allowing us to have the creative freedom to achieve these goals. Our plan would be to have an annual festival and grow our workshop contingency throughout the year," Nkabinde said. 

The festival takes place at the KwaDukuza Groutville Sports Grounds on December 27 and tickets cost R50.