By Kamzati II
Patrons and followers of lake of Stars have expressed mixed feelings over the organisation of Lake of Stars Discovery.
Musician and fashion designer Roy View posted on Facebook what seemed to be a review of the festival. Roy had reservations over the choice of Kachere Kastle however he did not specify why it was a bad choice.
In a different post that came as a warning as early as 20 August, Elson Chipiliro Mzembe pointed out that the Kachere Kastle is an interesting structure but its not a good venue for such an event.
“It is an interesting structure and am sure if you were a guest resident there, it would make an awesome getaway with beautiful memories. But as a venue for LOS, uh hmmm!! I don’t think it’s anywhere near suitable.” Posted Mzembe in the comment section of his post.
Related to the venue issue, Roy noted that parking was a problem at the festival.
Roy view also said some artists did not perform well. However, it is expected in every festival that there will be a few that will not live up to the billing. He also did not specify which artists and what they did wrong.
Another problem was that unlike other previous installments of the festival, there were not many beautiful performances during the day until the night. It was also evident from peoples posts that Kings of the Night Djs and Amarah Brown did not disappoint.
Lastly what did not go right according to Roy was that there were fewer businesses at the venue, unlike the previous ones.
Another issue that was raised by Roy and other quarters on social media is that the show was heavily patronized by foreigners and was not inclusive as much as price is concerned for most locals.
“The show was mostly enjoyed by the whites who were exploring our African culture and it was an experience for them,” Roy View said.
In the very end, Roy hailed the quality of the sound equipment and security. Nevertheless, I loved the quality sound, tight security and the people of Nkhatabay.
