Schools Arts Festival ready for lift-off

THE 11th edition of Let Them annual Schools Arts Festival takes place from July 27
for three days.
Let Them festival is a child-oriented creative, educational and cultural initiative that
creates platforms for young people to groom and showcase their artistic talent.
The Let Them Festival is run by a trust founded in 2010. Since then, the Trust has
evolved into a multi-faceted cultural and arts promotion and preservation
organisation.
This year’s the festival is a three-day event running between 8:30am – 5pm daily in
Domboshava for the duration of the festival.
The theme this year is “Njabulo” and the five art categories to be featured will focus
on different sub themes namely: Drama – “Statutory Rape” to further bring
awareness and action to the global problem; Poetry; Visual Art and Fashion with a
focus on “Ubuntu” (Realising African-ism).
Musical acts will focus on the late musician Souljah Love and participants will be
required to include at least one song of the late musician in their allotted 10-minute
performance. This would be a way of helping young people to further appreciate the
evolution and establishment of Zimbabwe’s music industry by such music legends.
The programme for the festival will go as follows: July 27, 2023 -Theatre, Poetry,
traditional music and dance for the primary school level; July 28, 2023 – Theatre,
Poetry and Dance for the secondary school level; and July 29, 2023 – Music
performances.
The belief is that attendance and participation provides a great opportunity for
schools to showcase their talent and interact with other schools.
The Festival provides a space and platform for schools to also receive feedback from
experienced adjudicators.
Explained festival director, Chido Musasiwa Gutu: “”Our expectation for the festival is
to have as many schools as possible participating in the three-day festival. This year
is different because we have prioritised schools in Domboshava, Hatcliff and
surrounding areas in our engagement efforts.
“We are anticipating to have at least 30 schools participating in more than one genre.
However, we want to bring festivities to Domboshava. We expect an exceptionally
good audience for the festival from the surrounding communities. 
“We see many possibilities of how this festival could yield a beneficial return for
those that will be involved. Join us in marking this special 11th year anniversary of
the festival.”