Makokoba came alive over the weekend as the second edition of the Makokoba Music Festival brought two days of free music, food, health services and cultural activity to Bulawayo’s oldest township.
Held on September 18 and 19, the festival was founded by Winya Sounds and turned the township into a meeting place for established musicians, young performers, traders, photographers and residents. The main stage ran from the afternoon into the late evening, drawing hundreds of music lovers who came to see a line-up that reflected the range of Bulawayo’s sound.
Rhumba, Tshibilika, Zim Dancehall, Afro-Jazz and Zim Hip Hop all featured during the programme. Award-winning Afro-pop musician Bhila performed on both days with a full band, while Hwabaraty, Butholezwe Ntini, Lights WakoBulawayo, Mzolisi Mr Bones, Umfana kaJeroti and Sipopoma Sounds were also among the performers. The festival also gave space to emerging talent, including 16-year-old artiste Spoonky.
For Bhila, the event was more than another appearance on a busy entertainment calendar. It gave him a chance to test his live show before his upcoming Bhila Live in Concert, scheduled for October 2, while allowing him to perform in front of an audience that knew the music and felt a direct connection to the event.
“The love I received from the people of Makokoba was amazing. Performing there for two days gave me an opportunity to connect with the people in a very different way because this was a home-grown festival and the audience came to support their own.
“Seeing people singing along, dancing and responding to the music reminded me why live performance is so important. I really appreciated the energy they gave me and the way they embraced the full band,” Bhila said.
That sense of ownership could be felt throughout the performances. Butholezwe Ntini’s hit song “TTI” quickly became one of the weekend’s biggest crowd moments, with fans calling for the song to be performed again. Lights WakoBulawayo, who was born and bred in Makokoba, drew an equally strong response as residents sang along to his music.
The festival’s choice of venue also carried weight. Makokoba was Bulawayo’s first African township and, for nearly 35 years, the only township serving the city’s African population. Its history is tied to the growth of Bulawayo and to generations of residents who have shaped the city’s music, politics, sport, food and popular culture.
That history has increasingly become part of the city’s cultural programming. Recent arts events in Bulawayo have taken performances, exhibitions and creative workshops into communities including Makokoba, Mzilikazi, Nkulumane and Cowdray Park. Stanley Hall in Makokoba, one of the city’s early communal halls, has also hosted poetry, comedy and music programmes. The movement has helped shift the focus away from central venues and towards the neighbourhoods where many artists live and where audiences are already gathered.
The Makokoba festival followed the same approach, but expanded it beyond entertainment. Organisers established a Wellness Village to give residents access to health services during the event. The decision came as Zimbabwe continues to use community outreach programmes to bring essential care closer to people who may struggle to reach health facilities. Bulawayo has been included in national outreach work covering immunisation, health education and other services for children, young people and adults.
A Food Village and vendor economy were also introduced, with more than 30 vendors targeted for participation. The initiative was designed to give local traders a place to earn income while presenting Makokoba’s own food culture to festival-goers. Maputi, sadza nemuriwo, matemba, mahewu and braai were among the products sold during the weekend.
“The festival’s food village was a success as it reflected Makokoba’s own cuisine and informal economy. Products like maputi, sadza nemuriwo, matemba, mahewu and braai were sold at the event,” said Festival Manager Christensen Mapuranga.
For traders, the arrangement connected the festival to the everyday economy of the township. Informal businesses remain an important source of income in Bulawayo, particularly for people working in food, clothing, crafts and small-scale services. A festival that brings music lovers into a neighbourhood can therefore create opportunities well beyond ticket sales, especially when organisers deliberately reserve space for local vendors.
Winya Sounds also used the weekend to focus on the professional development of musicians. Its Live on Stage workshop covered stage presence, sound preparation and the practical demands of performing with a live band. Musicians were taken through sound checks and performance rights, areas that can determine whether a promising act is ready to move from informal shows to larger professional stages.
The festival’s cultural programme extended into photography through LensFestByo, an exhibition featuring a curated display of images of Makokoba, its people and its history. The photographs gave the township a visual record of its identity at a time when many communities are often represented by outsiders rather than documenting themselves.
“Apart from the above, we further expanded the festival through LensFestByo, a photography exhibition which featured a curated display of images documenting Makokoba township, its people and its cultural history.
“The exhibition provided a visual record of the community and reinforced the festival’s broader objective of celebrating Makokoba beyond its music,” said Mapuranga.
The closing day brought another story of endurance to the stage. Dr Gasolo arrived in Makokoba after completing his fifth Long Walk to Success, a three-day journey from Matshetsheni in Gwanda to Bulawayo. The walk covered more than 100 kilometres, with the festival account putting the distance at 156 kilometres.
This year, the poet and cultural activist began at Matshetsheni rather than travelling first to Gwanda town. Along the route, he left Starlink kits at Matshetsheni Primary, Matshiya Primary and Matsholomotshe schools before continuing towards Bulawayo through the Mtshabezi and Esigodini areas. The walk, which began in 2022, has been used to raise the profile of local creatives and draw attention to education, culture and social issues affecting young people.
His arrival gave the festival a fitting final image: an artist walking from a rural community into the city and ending his journey at a stage built to celebrate local talent. It also linked the festival to the wider idea that cultural work is not separate from community life. Music, education, health, food and local business all formed part of the weekend’s programme.
The Makokoba Music Festival was founded in 2025 under Festival Director Tendai Mudimu and Festival Manager Mapuranga, with Councillor Lezinah Mohamed serving as Board Chairperson. Its organisers have built the event around three pillars: cultural affirmation, community service and legacy.
“The cultural vision is rooted in the belief that what Bulawayo produces should be celebrated for its quality and originality rather than viewed as secondary to cultural output from elsewhere.
“The community pillar recognises that an event held in Makokoba cannot exist solely as an entertainment platform. The township is a working-class community with everyday needs, and the festival has sought to respond through health initiatives, opportunities for vendors, musician development and platforms for young creatives,” said Mapuranga.
Bulawayo already has a strong base for this kind of work. The city’s schools and community programmes place substantial emphasis on culture and the arts, while festivals and music teaching provide routes into creative work for young people. At the same time, the city’s cultural economy remains heavily informal, with limited records of how many people earn a living through music, photography, food, crafts and other creative activities.
The Makokoba festival offered a practical response to both realities. It brought a public platform to artists, created trading space for residents, made health services available during a major gathering and recorded the township through photography. Most importantly, it placed Makokoba itself at the centre of the story rather than treating it simply as a backdrop.
As the final performances ended and Dr Gasolo took to the stage, the second edition had already made its direction clear. The festival is growing as a music event, but its strongest identity lies in the way it joins entertainment to the life of the community that hosts it.