Two weeks ago, I wrote on these pages my
take on this year’s Sand Music Festival. It is an honour to give you the
response that my entry provoked from the SandFest Team as follows:
Dear Greg,
Your opinion of the Sand Music Festival in
the paper was misguided and I think you lacked adequate information to guide
your argument.
As such, we are pleased to offer these
explanations to give you context on why some decisions were made.
1. We didn't have low patronage at the
festival. We expected 2,000 people and we got 2,000 people. Over the past
years, our focus was on getting crowds but we realized that compromised on a
lot of things. We would rather have a compact crowd that will enjoy a really
good show. Everyone that came to the festival had a good time, hitches here and
there notwithstanding
2. The nature of the audience is guided by
the amount of resources that one has. We realised early on that this would be a
difficult year and it would be tough to get adequate resources to pay for an
expensive headliner. We had NO single sponsor for this year's festival. So, we
lived within our means and delivered a festival that was within our budget.
Most of you people that demand world class artists do not even come the support
the festival. But even if you do, we hardly raise enough money to pay-off
everyone and all expenses. The end result is timatsala ndingongole when
all of you have gone home. After the festival, the trouble begins, paying off
everyone and balancing the books.
3. On the clash of dates. There are only
three weekends in the year that one can hold a festival: end September, end
October or end November. That is when you are assured that you will not be a
victim of the elements. Now, we have too many festivals and pseudo-festivals in
Malawi these days. There is no way one can avoid a clash of dates. But it is actually
good to have too many festivals, Malawians deserve a variety of choice. They
will pick which festival to attend. That way, everyone will improve on the
delivery of their product.
4. As a background, these artists that
people mention like they come cheap like a Limbe vendor actually cost an arm
and a leg. While we are proud to have hosted some of the best artists in the
world over the years, we have resorted to bringing artists that we can afford,
depending on the gate charges and sponsorship that we receive. Diamond alone
cost $30,000 and that is minus air tickets and per diems, food and
accommodation for the whole team in Malawi. Busy Signal costs around the same.
Achina Davido and Teckno that people want cost $100,000 (K75 million) performance
basi. Do your maths. If, and when, we get a sponsor willing to partner us in
bringing these world class acts, then we might just be brave enough to dip into
those waters.
5. Without being cynical, we would like to
use this opportunity to highlight to immorality of the companies that benefit
from the festival without investing anything in return. For instance, during
that one weekend, thousands of merry-goers trek to Salima from Blantyre and
Lilongwe, driving about a thousand cars. Surely, any sensible manager at a fuel
company would notice an upward trend in fuel consumption on the SandFest
weekend. Yet, what do they give in return? And that these companies do not even
feel an obligation to support us should drive them to shame. We believe that
anyone who benefits from something without investing should actually be ashamed
of themselves.
6. SandFest clocks 10 years next year. And
we will be back once more on the shores of Salima at a venue and date to be
announced in the next month.
7. Lastly, we are thankful to those 2,000
people that came to support us at this year's SandFest, we don't take this
support for granted. We are forever grateful. And to everyone who has supported
us through the years; our friends, family, the sponsors who have stood with us
over the years, the venues, our partners and everyone who has shown us love.
Thank you for the depths of our souls. We look forward to seeing you again next
year.
Thankfully,
SandFest Team
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