Igoda is a Zulu word that means “knot” or “to bind together” and this definition reflects the unique collaboration that brings together the finest music festivals in Southern Africa to create one of the first touring circuits on the African continent.

The circuit is a partnership born out of the Firefest Route, the brainchild of MTN Bushfire that now encompasses festivals from Mozambique, eSwatini, South Africa, and Reunion Island including: Azgo Festival (Maputo, Mozambique), Bassline Africa Day (Johannesburg, South Africa), MTN Bushfire (Malkerns, eSwatini), Zakifo Festival (Durban, South Africa.) Doadoa (Kampala, Uganda) and Sakifo Festival (Saint-Pierre, Reunion Island.)

These festivals work together in facilitating the movement of artists within the region, thereby exposing them to different audiences. When an artist is booked to perform at one of the member festivals, it opens up opportunities for them to easily perform at the other festivals and tour the circuit during the period.

Igoda is an exciting development both for local and international artists, festival professionals, and music fans from Southern Africa and across the world.

IGODA’s aims are:

• Creating a sustainable touring circuit in the SADC region. Developing cultural economies in the region with artist exposure, audience development, job creation and trade creation;
• Enabling the festivals in the circuit to have a wider diversity of artists and a better audience / festival experience;
• Capacity building and sustainable skills development, professionalization of arts and culture practitioners in the region;
• Arts collaboration opportunities;
• To address social issues through arts and culture, promotion of social cohesion and social responsibility.

To learn more about IGODA, visit: www.igoda.org and you can also follow their Facebook page www.facebook.com/igodasamfc for updates.

IGODA PARTNERS:

MTN Bushfire
MTN Bushfire, named “Africa’s Top Festival,” by the BBC and announced by CNN as “one of the 7 African music festivals you really have to see,” is eSwatini’s internationally acclaimed music & arts festival, that celebrates creative expression whilst promoting social responsibility, stimulating the economy and drawing talent and tourists from across Africa and around the world.
Each year a multi-generational global community of approximately 29,000 “BRING THEIR FIRE” to the scenic farmlands of the Malkerns Valley to experience the three-day event. More than simply a music festival, MTN Bushfire is a holistic experience made up of a rich texture of arts, cultures, crafts, food markets and specialized zones that combine to create an explosive three-day event and a memorable take home experience.

Zakifo Music Festival
Zakifo is an eclectic, international music festival focusing on pop and world music, held annually in Durban, South Africa. More than just music, Zakifo is a week-long build-up of music industry engagements, workshops and couch-sessions. Our sister-festival, Sakifo is Reunion Island’s most established music festival and has become the most significant music event in the Indian Ocean, attracting music-buyers and festival professionals from around the world, thus strengthening and invigorating the music industry of Reunion Island. Our aim is to build an alike entity, nurturing South-South cultural partnerships and collaborations in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Azgo Festival
Azgo Festival is Mozambique’s finest international arts festival; bringing together a diverse and quality program of music, film, and dance to the city of Maputo across two days and nights.
Azgo Festival is a contemporary celebration of arts and culture, with a strong focus on artists from Mozambique and from around the continent of Africa. The festival serves as a platform for emerging and acclaimed artists to collaborate and meet a new audience. The name “Azgo” is old slang from Maputo to say “let´s go”, let’s revisit our cultures and heritage, “let´s go” promote cultural diversity, “let’s go” promote the arts and culture, Let´s Go…

Sakifo Music Festival
At the heart of the Indian Ocean, Sakifo in Creole is like a victorious rallying cry: “That’s what is needed!”. Born in 2004, the Sakifo Festival, schedules the great names of international music that seldom have the opportunity to perform in the region. Within a warm atmosphere, the festival offers several stages along the beach of Saint-Pierre, and on Sunday morning, a warmed-up plate of rice- the famous traditional “risofé” in a musical ambience in the district of Terre Saint. Sakifo Musik Festival, like Reunion Island, is cross-cultural. Sakifo’s long life (the longest of all the island’s festivals) in spite of the challenges it has faced can to a great extent be attributed to the strong connection it has forged with its audiences. This connection is expressed in the festival’s unique identity, it’s “soul” which, while developing professionally, it has preserved intact over the years.

Bassline Africa Day Concert
Bassline’s annual Bassline Africa Day Concert is Africa’s biggest celebration of African contemporary music. The Concert is held on the closest Saturday to the official AU Africa Day of celebration on the 25th May annually. Hosted in the heart of Jozi this concert has graced the Mary Fitzgerald Square and the Newtown Park in the past and has been broadcast live on SABC2 to multi-millions. Now in its 13th year, this event is a world class production featuring a star-studded lineup that sees some of the continent’s biggest acts take to the stage, such as Ishmael Lo, D,Banj, Femi Kuti, Oliver Mutukudzi, to name a few, as well as providing a platform for new artists breaking onto the Contemporary African Music scene. In addition to live concert the Bassline Africa Day Concert is always filmed for a 3-hour live television show and is broadcast around the continent.

DOADOA East African Performing Arts Market
The East African Performing Arts Market provides a platform for professional networking and joint learning, bringing together various stakeholders and link people, organizations, businesses, knowledge and technology with a view to create demand and develop a market for the performing arts and unlock the potential of the East African creative industry, making it an important factor for economic, social and cultural development throughout the region.