The seventh International Marimba and Steelpan Festival, which will be paying homage to Nelson Mandela, will take place at St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls on July 28 and 29.
The musical education festival, curated by Education Africa, will bring about 80 institutions from South Africa the rest of Africa and abroad together to compete, as well as share their love for music.
Participants will also learn from a series of competitions and workshops taking place simultaneously throughout the weekend event.
Day one of the festival, being the main and focal point, will include a series of competitions taking place in the main venue and day two will feature over 90 workshops in different music disciplines.
Joan Lithgow, director of the festival, said the workshops will be a melting pot for social cohesion which will see different people from various social and cultural backgrounds meet for the first time in a marimba or steelpan workshop.
“The learners will learn and play music together, echoing the words of Madiba who said: ‘Music is a great blessing, it has the power to elevate and liberate us. It sets people free to dream, it can unite us to sing with one voice and such is the value of music’,” Lithgow said.
This Marimba and Steelpan Festival is open to all marimba bands/ensembles and steelpan bands/ensembles as well as Orff ensembles from all over the world.
If you are interested in meeting new people and learning how to play djembe drums, marimba, steelpan, the mbira (thumb piano), gumboots and hip-hop then this festival is the place to be.
For more information visit www.internationalmarimbafestival.org or call Education Africa on 011 685 7300 for all enquiries.
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