Story by Mhlomuli Ncube
THE 5th edition of the Mapopoma Festival was officially opened this Thursday evening in the resort city of Victoria Falls.
The annual arts festival, which now attracts local and regional visitors, saw the ministers of tourism from Zimbabwe and Zambia speaking on their governments’ commitment towards supporting arts tourism.
“Tourism is about working hard, playing hard and expressing ourselves, alone you can’t make it. That is why we supported you as the ministry. In business, it is within the 5th year that you recognise that you are doing something sensible. We are promising to support you, no one is small, no one has a colour or age, we go everywhere that supports tourism,” said Zimbabwe’s Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable Barbara Rwodzi.
Zambia’s Minister of Tourism, Honourable Rodney Sikumba said, “I am very delighted to be here this evening, the amount of stuff I know about Vic Falls is like my backyard, for those of us who are at the bottom of the food chain, you are the people who are going to make tourism tick. You locals are the key, we value your tenacity and we will support you. We will market our tourism within our KAZA region. The way animals roam around our 5 countries is how you humans should roam around.”
The three-day tourism showcase will see local and regional artists converging to entertain revellers in Zimbabwe’s tourism capital.
Mapopoma has defied odds in the last five years, weathering COVID-19 storms, and both Zimbabwe and Zambia’s governments have pledged to support and grow the festival to be a regional and international event.
