Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE 40th Bagamoyo International Festival of Arts and Culture presented exceptional works from both local and international artists.
The event commenced on Thursday was graced by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Sports, Innocent Bashungwa, his deputy Paulina Gekul and the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Hassan Abbas.
There were other officials; among them, the High Commissioner of India to Tanzania, Binaya Srikanta Pradha, who witnessed an Indian traditional group performing at the festival. Most entertaining however, was the Minister for Culture, Arts and Sports Innocent Bashungwa who walked on the stage and performed a drum beat to mark the official launch of the 40th edition of the festival.
After performing, he took the honour to greet the crowd that had gathered in that event.
On the stage, the Minister said they are going to use the arts, culture and sports sectors in promoting the country globally, and through that promotion, it will ultimately stimulate the country’s tourism.
The Minster took the opportunity to assure President Samia Suluhu Hassan that they will continue to implement the new policies and new developmental visions, which encourages the use of Arts to promote Tanzanian tourism with the current strategy that the President used to promote Tanzania through ‘the Royal Tour’. He said Bagamoyo was one of the areas surveyed through the Royal Tour strategy since it is the area that has a lot of fortune.
“We promise the President that we will use this festival to promote tourism, music, art, and Tanzanian culture”, explained Bashungwa.
He also said that the Government is going to transform the Bagamoyo College of Arts into an International College and stressed that the Government’s current plan is to improve the Arts Institutions, including the Tanzania Film Board, National Arts Council of Tanzania and Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) so that they can make a significant contribution to artists.
He commended the artists and Athletes for continuing to do well, and he promised to stand by their side to ensure they get all their rights to improve their lives.
The Permanent Secretary, Abbasi delivered a voice message from the President to the audience attended the festival that he wished the Bagamoyo Arts and Culture Festival best of lucks. More than 60 groups will participate in the festival, and more than five countries have participated, including India.
After the performance from the Minister, the stage was coloured with several other performances from local and international groups. Wanyika Band issued their performance and was followed by a Contemporary dance group walking to the stage and performing an inspirational rhythmic gymnastics dance; this dance style incorporated acrobatic movement into elegant flowing routines, with creative, expressive lifts and poses.
It was indeed an outstanding performance from the two ladies. As their dance move only required strength, flexibility and technique to astonish the audience that came to witness.
For More News And Analysis About Tanzania Follow Africa-Press
