TENDAI BHEBE
IN BULAWAYO
Preparations for this year’s Bulawayo Day celebrations, scheduled for early next month, are at an advanced stage, Bulawayo City Council (BCC) spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu has said.
The city of Bulawayo turns 129 years on June 1, a day that has since been named Bulawayo Day.
The day is set aside to promote everything about Bulawayo and celebrate the diversity of local cultural expressions and heritage.
Mpofu said a number of activities are lined up.
“A number of events have been planned in the city as Bulawayo commemorates the day it became a town in 1894 on June 1. The event will allow residents to engage and participate meaningfully in the city’s cultural activities,” Mpofu said.
She added: “This year’s celebrations will focus on the promotion of arts, culture and heritage by providing incubation, support and development of creative industries under the theme “Our Culture, Our Heritage, Our Creativity”.
Bulawayo Day will run concurrently with the Bulawayo Arts Festival until June 5.
Mpofu revealed that the event is going to take place at the Stanley Hall in Makokoba high-density suburb.
“The celebrations will be held at Stanley Hall. It will kick start with a Tourism and Heritage Trail tour, which will start from the City Hall following the trail to Makokoba Township where people will then converge for the festivities at Stanley Hall National Monument.
“Converging at Stanley Hall will also promote community development through heritage tourism and showcase the talent in Bulawayo through performing arts. Our focus in 2023 is on promoting township tourism which involves visiting places, events, and activities that reflect the history and culture of Bulawayo’s historic communities,” Mpofu said.
BCC has collaborated with the Bulawayo Makokoba Township Tourism Trail, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, and the Makokoba Community as a whole in a bid to promote community-based tourism and educative township historic tours.
Mpofu said that the Bulawayo Arts Festival week would be highlighted by many activities across the city, including a Culture Craft Fair on June 2 to 3, 2023 at the City Hall Car Park.
It comes after the Bulawayo Cultural Affairs Office and Nhimbe Trust in May 2019,lobbied the BCC to declare June 1 the day of Bulawayo. And council acceded to the request.
