My backpack felt as if it was being pulled in a dozen directions. Clinging to my ticket, I surged forward, pushed by the crowd that was swelling around me.
They were all scrumming towards the same point — a narrow entry to the ramp that led to the ferry. Men, women and children — it was everyone for himself.
I glanced back to see Mail & Guardian photographer Lisa Skinner standing her ground in the mad scramble, looking sympathetically at an elderly burqa-clad woman who was being pushed aside by the crowd.
The air-conditioned first-class cabin was a haven after the mad scramble to get on board. We sat back and began to relax. One of East Africa’s legendary trading centres, the Zanzibar Archipelago, was only two hours away.
Made up of Unguja Island, known simply as Zanzibar, Pemba Island to the north and several smaller islands, the archipelago has a reputation as a tropical island paradise.
Between the 12th and 15th centuries trade links with Arabia and the Persian Gulf flourished, which is evidenced by the Arabic architecture that dominates Stone Town, Unguja Island’s main city.
After disembarking and clearing passport control, we found ourselves lost in a labyrinth of cobbled streets and whitewashed coral rag houses, trying to find our hotel.
Sauti za Busara festival
We were in Stone Town to attend the Sauti za Busara festival, the highlight of East Africa’s live music scene, which is held in early February every year between the short rains (mvuli) from November to January and the long rains (masika) from mid-March to May.
This was the eighth festival, which was launched by Busara Promotions, a not-for-profit NGO, in 2004. This year it featured 40 acts — 20 from Tanzania and the others from the rest of Africa — over five nights, with up to eight hours of music an evening.
This year the festival also included five evenings of superbly selected films that deal with African music, from the politics of hip-hop in Dakar to Central Africa’s only symphony orchestra in Kinshasa.
Storming the Old Fort: The festival started with a street parade. (Lisa Skinner, M&G)
We arrived on the Tuesday, the day before the festival kicked off, allowing us some time to explore Stone Town and barter with local traders for spices, kangas and music — although the festival only kicked off at 5pm every evening, which allowed plenty of time for exploring the restaurants and shops and day trips to the gorgeous beaches on the island.
The festival kicked off with a two-and-a-half-hour carnival, a street parade that made its way through Stone Town, from Busara’s offices to the Old Fort, the home of the festival.
The Old Fort was built by Omani Arabs around 1700 on the site of a Portuguese chapel. It now houses the Zanzibar Cultural Centre, an amphitheatre, a restaurant and contemporary art and craft traders.
Through the storm
As the carnival arrived at the Old Fort and entered the area where the bands would be playing, the wind began to pick up. Ominous dark clouds closed in on the fort and the skies opened, unleashing an intense shower.
Stagehands reached for plastic sheets to cover equipment and the crowd ran for whatever cover they could find. It turned out later that the storm was caused by a cyclone that hit Zanzibar and many people in rural areas lost their houses. But protected inside the Old Fort, the storm seemed a lot less severe and after a delay of three hours the festival finally got going.
The Culture Musical Club. (Lisa Skinner, M&G)
Five days is a long time for a music festival, but it was a testament to the quality of the music that we kept making the trek down to the Old Fort to be wowed by the musicians.
There were many highlights on the first night — Mohammed Ilyas and Nyota Zamermeta entranced the audience with their taarab music but the loudest cheers were saved for legendary Zanzibari singer Bi Kidude, who came on as a guest. The other highlight was the Sufi choir, Maulidi ya Homu ya Mtendeni.
Formed in the mid-1960s by Ustadh Majid Said Mansour, Maulidi Ya Homu Ya Mtendeni are arranged in two lines on stage, the back line standing, playing percussion and singing, while the front line performs intricate synchronised dance moves on their knees. The result was a deeply moving and spiritual experience. But festival director Yusuf Mahmoud said the performance nearly didn’t take place because of a controversy that resulted from the decision to book this Muslim choir for a festival where people are “drinking and fornicating”.
Thursday night was even better with a mesmerising performance by African/Asian collaboration Suki Africa Sukiyaki Allstars and a great closing set by the Mlimani Park Orchestra. But the highlight was definitely a funked-up performance by Benin’s Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, who have had a resurgence in performances since their recordings from the 1970s were recently reissued by labels such as Analog Africa.
The Suki Africa Sukiyaki Allstars enthralled the crowds. (Lisa Skinner, M&G)
Afrobeat power
If their show was anything to go by, these peers of Fela Kuti have lost none of their Afrobeat power and, with a new studio album due out in March, will be taking to stages for a while yet.
Friday night was another evening of diverse but great music. The taarab orchestra, Culture Musical Club, wowed the audience with a great set featuring Bi Kidude and Tanzanian outfit Jagwa Music brought the show to a close with a storming set of what can only be described as African nu-rave.
Relentless traditional percussion, Casio keyboard riffs and the MC bounding around the stage all added to a high-intensity show that left this critic open-mouthed. But the real highlight was Bismillahi Gargar, a group of Somalian women who stole across the border to Garissa in northeastern Kenya to form a musical group, which, as Muslim women, they were not allowed to do in Somalia. Backed by a tight band of Kenyan musicians, their music was as funky as hell and the four women owned the stage.
Local representation came from South African Afro-funksters Kwani Experience, who had to work hard to get reaction from a crowd who had been put to sleep by Cameroonian crooner Blick Bassy. But the band pulled it off with a spirited performance, with many shout-outs to the people of Egypt after news had filtered through that Hosni Mubarak had stepped down as president.
Saturday featured another great set by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou and an impressive set by Kenyan MC Muthoni, the “Drummer Queen”, who had a really fresh, unique style. Sunday featured a great performance by Mory Kanté’s half-brother Moussa Diawara from Guinea who impressed with his kora-driven music, which touched on jazz, salsa and flamenco.
Dar es Salaam’s most popular band, African Stars, aka Twanga Pepeta, brought the festival to a close. By the time Monday rolled round, we were exhausted and relieved that the festival had come to an end, admittedly after five thrilling days, and headed back to the port to get the ferry.
The queue was a lot more gentle when boarding. Maybe after five days of music and sunny beaches, they were a lot more relaxed. I know we were.