Enjoy East African Cultural Safari in Zanzibar Islands

The Island of Zanzibar is world famous for romantic vacations. The archipelago is however an equally important East African destination for cultural tours. Dr Livingstone’s house, the Arab fort, the old stone town streets, the house of wonders, and the people’s palace are some of the top cultural travel areas in Zanzibar.

The archipelago and its people have their own unique history and culture, influenced by the traders and invaders over the centuries; from the Portuguese, Omani Arabs to English. The result of this fusion of different ethnic groups has resulted in interesting cultural events such as Sauti za Busara, Zanzibar International Film Festival and Mwaka Kogwa ” the celebration of the Persian New Year.

Sauti za Busara, Swahili for sounds of wisdom, is East Africa’s premier music and cultural festival showcasing the best Swahili speaking world has to offer. The event that is held every February in Stone Town’s Old Fort sees the historical town becoming a beehive of activity. Sauti za Busara hosts bongo flava (a popular music genre in East Africa) stars, ngoma dancers, taarab orchestras and drumming troupes.

In Zanzibar Island’s recent efforts to market itself as a global cultural tourism destination, Sauti za Busara is one of the key highlights. The event is popular with the local community as well as the many international visitors who attend. The festival accords local artists opportunity to meet and interact with each other, and in the process exchange ideas that trigger artistic creativity. The sixth edition of the event held from February 12th to 17th saw artists from many parts of the world attend. Performers came from as far as West Africa, Australia and Europe.

The other cultural event in Zanzibar is the Zanzibar international film festival (ZIFF), held every July. It is the largest cultural festival in East Africa, presenting an amazing variety of international music and dance, art exhibitions, theater arts, film and video. The film festival had its 10th anniversary in 2007.

As ZIFF gains international fame, the attending crowd gets larger with every passing year. ZIFF provides an unrivaled opportunity for promoting and preserving cultural understanding across the dhow countries of India, Oman and Tanzania.

The last week of July sees the village of Makunduchi celebrate Mwaka Kogwa, the Persian New Year. The festival is a riot of colour, filled with rituals and fun. During this festival, men are given the chance to mock fight each other with banana stems to clear any past dispute for the new year. Women on the other hand dress in their best clothes and sing songs about family, love and life.

The traditional burning of a hut is the most symbolic event and the highlight of Mwaka Kogwa. It marks the end of one year, and the start of a new one. It is also believed to purge evil from the land and protect the village from fire throughout the year. After that, the villagers party, sing, dance to African drums and other music instruments till dawn. They also extend hospitality to all people in the knowledge that any local who does not entertain a guest will receive bad luck.

Zanzibar has recently gained international recognition as a cultural heritage center due to the above festivals. Those wishing to visit Zanzibar can do so by air, as well as the sea. Gulf Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius and KLM (in conjunction with Kenya Airways) are presently offering international scheduled flights to Zanzibar. Transport can also be arranged from Dar es salaam which is only a short trip by sea or by air from Zanzibar. Dar es Salaam has regular scheduled flights, small charters and fast boats to Zanzibar.