February
Sauti za Busara Swahili Music & Cultural Festival, Stone Town, Zanzibar. Sauti za Busara means "songs of wisdom" in KiSwahili, and this annual festival of Swahili music attracts the best musicians and performers from all over East Africa, as well as visiting groups from West Africa. Most performances and workshops are held in Stone Town's Old Fort and House of Wonders over 4 days, and there's a final night's party with DJs on the beach at Kendwa on the north coast. Music varies from traditional taarab, which combines African percussion, Arabic rhythms, and uses large numbers of musicians and Arabian instruments, to "bongo flava," a local take on hip-hop and R&B. For more information, visit www.busaramusic.com.
June/July
Zanzibar International Film Festival of the Dhow Countries. The Film Festival of the Dhow Countries (www.ziff.or.tz) celebrates and promotes the unique culture that grew as a result of the ancient trade route around the Indian Ocean and the dhow, which for centuries traveled to Africa, Arabia, and Asia on the monsoon winds. All nations around the Indian Ocean participate in the festival, and films are shown in venues along Stone Town's waterfront, critiqued, and judged. Additionally there are contemporary artists, musicians, cultural troupes, and photo exhibitions, as well as arts-related programs to creatively empower women and children.
