Zanzibar Island : Beach Luxury Travel and African Cultural Tours
Zanzibar Island has an international reputation for romantic beach holidays. However, the Island is also equally popular for East African cultural safaris. Some areas in Zanzibar such as the house of wonders, the streets of old stone town, the Arab fort, the people’s palace, and Dr. Livingstone’s house are favorite with visitors on a cultural tour on the Island.
Zanzibar culture has been largely influenced by the many traders and invaders who came to the Island in the course of its history. The Omani Arabs, the English, and the Portuguese are some of the communities that have influenced the culture in Zanzibar. Some festivities in the Island – such as Mwaka Kogwa (celebration of the Persian new year), Sauti za busara, and the Zanzibar international film festival – portray this mixed cultural heritage.
In Swahili, Sauti za Busara literally means sounds of wisdom. The festivals showcase the best of the Swahili speaking world’s music, and is probably the greatest musical event in the Swahili speaking world. It is held every February in Stone town’s old fort, which comes alive with the festivities. The invited artists range from bongo flava (a music genre popular across the entire East Africa) stars, drumming troupes, taarab musicians, and African ngoma dancers.
The festival is very popular with the local population and is one of the annual highlights in Zanzibar’s new approach to market itself as a leading global cultural tourism destination. As well as bringing international visitors to the islands, the event provides artists from the Swahili-speaking world with a rare opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, learn from each other and create. The sixth edition of Sauti za Busara was held on 12-17 February 2009 and the event drew artists from many parts of the world including West Africa, Europe and Australia.
The Zanzibar international film festival (ZIFF) is the other large cultural event held in Zanzibar. Conducted every July, the festival (the largest cultural activity in East Africa) presents a variety of international films and videos, art exhibitions, music and dance. ZIFF celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2007.
As ZIFF gains international fame, the attending crowd gets larger with every passing year. ZIFF provides an unrivaled opportunity for promoting and preserving cultural understanding across the dhow countries of India, Oman and Tanzania.
The other major cultural event, the Persian new year celebrations, takes place in the last week of July in the Makunduchi village. Many rituals and fun mark this colorful event during which men hold mock fights with banana stems. The mock fights symbolize the sorting out of any disputes from the previous years. At that time, women put on their best dresses, and compose love songs, and songs about life and family.
Traditionally, the key event of the festival is when participants burn down a hut to mark the end of the old year, and the beginning of a new one. The people believe that this guarantees the village’s safety from fire throughout the year. It also purges evil amongst the land and its people. Much feasting, drumming, dancing and singing till dawn follow this ritual. The locals then extend great hospitality to everyone. It is believed that any resident who does not entertain a guest at that time will attract bad luck upon their household.
Zanzibar has recently gained international recognition as a cultural heritage center due to the above festivals. Those wishing to visit Zanzibar can do so by air, as well as the sea. Gulf Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius and KLM (in conjunction with Kenya Airways) are presently offering international scheduled flights to Zanzibar. Transport can also be arranged from Dar es salaam which is only a short trip by sea or by air from Zanzibar. Dar es Salaam has regular scheduled flights, small charters and fast boats to Zanzibar.
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