On Thursday HIFA announced that the next edition of the festival will happen in 2017  but leading to that will be a variety of programmes throughout the year.

The organisers have sent us a detailed report on the press conference held at the Royal Harare Golf Club.

Read it below:

Known for innovation, panache and trendsetting, the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) has announced a ground-breaking suite of programmes that will see what organisers have called a “365-day a year Festival”. Expanding HIFA’s increasingly influential position in the socio-cultural landscape of Zimbabwe, the organization announced five areas of programming designed to maximize HIFA’s impact between now and the next 6-day Festival in April/May 2017. The exciting programs running throughout the year offer innovative performances and exhibitions, community engagement projects, high entertainment sports events, audience development initiatives and high-quality event management services.

“Our new format allows people to enjoy different aspects of the HIFA experience throughout the year” said Maria Wilson, HIFA’s Executive Director. “This year-round approach fulfills HIFA’s mandate to promote arts and culture in Zimbabwe whilst developing new audiences and promoting the country.”

Explaining the five programme areas, Founder and Artistic Director, Manuel Bagorro, said “HIFA PRESENTS offers immersive weekends of intense arts programming throughout the year, as well as major stand-alone performances. HIFA EVENTS provides first-class professional services for conferences, brand launches as well as corporate, diplomatic and private events. HIFA PLAY produces major, high-entertainment and high production sports events. The HIFA Amigos programme is a bold audience development programme for HIFA PRESENTS events throughout the year, as well as for the Zimbabwean arts sector more broadly.”

Bagorro said that the fifth section, called HIFA ENGAGE will roll out 4, major education and community projects running over the next 18 months and culminating at HIFA 2017. “HIFA’s Travelling Arts Manufactory is a professional development, skills exchange and field support program working across the country. Voices of 1000 works in national schools, offering a creative learning project leading to a major mass choir “happening” at HIFA 2017.  The City Project is the third project under the HIFA ENGAGE section. It is a public art program exploring and transforming the experience of public transport in Harare. Rounding off the developmental projects under HIFA ENGAGE is HIFA Access, an initiative that convenes meetings, symposia and collaborative brainstorming conversations aimed at strengthening and emboldening the Zimbabwean cultural sector.”

HIFA 2017 will showcase the spectacular artistic outcomes of the various programs running throughout the year and across the country, supported by the audience development programming for which HIFA has such a strong track record.

HIFA emphasised that though there will not a be a six-day event at the end of April into May 2016, HIFA is more than a 6-day annual event and will in fact be more active, visible and dynamic throughout the year than in previous years. “It is what audiences have been asking for for a long time,” says Bagorro, “HIFA throughout the year. Our new suite of programmes are designed to powerfully engage not only the fantastic HIFA team but also our devoted supporters, the wonderful artists and general public in Zimbabwe, who will have more HIFA activity, diversity and impact than ever before.”