INTERNATIONAL MARIMBA AND STEELPAN FESTIVAL

The six esteemed adjudicators for the festival are Andy Narell, steelpan guru from France, Hallie Blejewski, steelpan specialist from the US, marimba specialists Gerard van de Geer from Australia and Bongani Sotshononda from South Africa and Dr Andile Khumalo and South African legend, Pops Mohamed from South Africa.

In addition to the 250 marimba and steelpan performances which take the form of competitions in various categories, there are also over 65 workshops and performances offered to everyone who enters the gate. These include djembe, marimba, steelpan, mbira, Khoisan dance, flamenco dance, Indian dance and gumboot dance.

One of the many highlights of the festival is the massed marimba and steelpan event where over 1000 performers will learn a new piece specifically composed for this event by the event organizer Joan Lithgow.

This piece, entitled Africa, will be learnt from scratch within 40 minutes and then will be performed with all the adjudicators.

There were a number of concerts throughout the two days including two solo performances by Andy Narell and two duo performances by Dave Reynolds and Pops Mohamed.