SINCE 2019, the city of Bulawayo has been hosting the Bulawayo Day and the Bulawayo Arts Festival in a bid to celebrate the diverse cultures found in the city, which is aptly known as the melting pot of arts and culture in the country.
This was after the city declared 1 June Bulawayo Day, a day set aside to commemorate the declaration of the city as a town in 1894, and is marked by arts and cultural activities. The commemorations started in 2019 when the city celebrated 125 years of being declared a town.
A number of activities have been held since last week, as the city celebrated Bulawayo Day and a host of activities under the Bulawayo Arts Festival banner. However, the festivities have not captured the attention of the city as one might have expected. Apart from council officials and artistes who are at the forefront, there is nothing out of the ordinary that suggests that there is something big happening in town. We believe residents must be enlightened and encouraged to participate in the festivities. Without residents, there is no Bulawayo to talk about.
Bulawayo was declared a town by Dr Leander Starr Jameson on 1 June 1894 and subsequently attained city status in 1943. The city also had its first advisory board in 1894. According to a council report, the declaration of 1 June as Bulawayo Day was mainly influenced by a local arts and culture organisation, Nhimbe Trust that also signed a memorandum of understanding with the local authority in 2015 for the establishment of a Bulawayo cultural policy. Further, the local authority declared that an arts festival week will be held annually from 2 to 5 June as part of the celebrations, where Nhimbe Trust will play the lead in organising the festival.
“The celebration of Bulawayo Day and the hosting of the Bulawayo Arts Festival aims to enable citizens to participate meaningfully in the cultural life of the city in order to create strong, resilient, and inclusive communities, to foster social cohesion and enhance social justice, and to generate innovative processes for solutions to socially challenging situations. The project also aims to enhance the resources, strategies, methodologies and processes available for creation in response to the challenges of the urban context and their complex development through the establishment of creative spaces to foster the creative spirit and for the exhibition of cultural products,” reads the report.
