At Sauti za Busara, African music is an obsession

Sauti za Busara is Kiswahili for sounds of wisdom. It’s also the name of a music festival held in Stonetown, Zanzibar.

Nigerian musician Nneka is on stage not so much singing as she is chanting; entranced. She twists and turns her body and raises her fist Amandla style chanting, “Vagabonds in power”. The multinational multicultural and multigenerational crowd chants back: Vagabonds in power-oh.

A European woman next to me sings along to the Fela Kuti classic word-for-word, her hands stretched out like she’s receiving her blessings at a pulpit. A young girl with a hijab draped loosely around her face squeezes past us until she is next to the mosh pit. The air is electric. This - a gathering of more than 20 000 people from around the world - is the essence of music: powerful, transgressive, and very entertaining.

In fact, the stage tonight, as it is every night for four days, is not just about music and performances. The Old Fort feels like spirits are hovering over us as we party, spirits of African music, which has become Sauti za Busara’s forte.

Africa has many enthralling music festivals. I have attended a few and left spellbound by all of them. But it was only at Busara that my eyes burned with tears - this is a celebration of African music in all its richness and diversity.

This edition features more than 50 artists from around the island, Tanzania, East Africa and some parts of the continent. There’s the contemporary Afro-Soul of Nneka, iconic South Africa hip hop artist Tumi and the Volume, Uganda is represented by Ndere Troupe, the sizzling rumba of DRC’s Super Mazemba, Ary Morais from Cabo Verde, Sudanese roots band Camirata, the rumba taarab fusion of Chébli Msaïdie from Comoros, and Madagascar’s Hanitra. Reunion Island is represented by Kozman Ti Dalon. As always, when she was still alive, the Zanzibari legend Bi Kidude was the biggest name on the bill.

Every performance is inspired and passionate. I only knew a handful of the artists, and all 31 performers put on a show that made me feel like I had seen them a million times before the festival.

They become one with the audience to the extent that performances stay of talk of the island long after the show ends. As Busara regular will tell you, this experience is true of all editions of the festivals.

Sauti za Busara had a daunting gap to fill when it started in 2004. East Africa has a rich musical heritage that boasts some of the most exciting and innovative contemporary artists, but it has scant music festivals.

Busara created a homegrown global platform. An essential part of its magic lies in the fact that Zanzibari and Tanzanian artists feature prominently and that bands from even the most obscure places in Africa get to shine alongside names like Salif Keita and Angelique Kidjo. The festival stays exclusively African and predominantly East African.

The music at the festival stands for every genre of the continent’s musical catalogue, from taarab, hip hop, reggae, bongo flavour, rumba and more. If cultural festivals mirror our identity - and they are - then Busara is a glorious reflection of Africa and African creativity.

We packed the Old Fort every night, singing along to lyrics we’ve just encountered, gyrating, sashing, drenched in sweat and fuelled by warm local beer and konyagi, a potent rum that turns hips into liquid. Burka-clad women swiveled their hips as vigorously as minxes in micro miniskirts. Some among us flew halfway around the world to be here. Others packed the ferries and flights that connect Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam. I also met revelers from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. All of us had a whiff of desperation. We didn’t just want a phenomenal part. We wanted to experience music as heritage and make the party an intimate encounter with our collective African roots.

We got it and more at Sauti za Busara.