Ufulu Festival-celebrating culture, creativity, freedom

Malawi: Malawi is known for its simplicity, breathtaking views of nature, and a people dedicated to celebrating and embracing their indigenous cultures and traditions.

Beyond simply celebrating local cultures and traditions, which are significant manifestations of Malawi's roots, the country's arts and creative industry is also slowly progressing and gaining recognition.

Ufulu Festival is an annual Christian-centered celebration that has embraced the arts and creative industry in Malawi over the years by bringing together diverse forms of art and creativity in the spirit of celebrating freedom, culture, and creativity.

The festival, which takes place on July 6, was created as a free space where Malawians of all backgrounds can come together to worship and celebrate one thing they all have in common: their country's freedom and independence.

"The whole essence is to share about Jesus at the festival, to give a platform for people to celebrate freedom while showcasing their creativity, and for festival attendees to have fun but also be able to get help," said Timothy Dalitso Mizaya, a producer at Ufulu Festival.

Mizaya stated that the event, which began as a way to commemorate independence on July 6, also has various themes that focus on issues of social justice and mental health.

"These themes are significant to Malawi because they target issues we face as Malawians. With social justice this year, we were taking donations for the building of a school block at Girls Shine Academy. For mental health, we had a mental health corner where we had people come through to just talk through some of the things they may be going through,” he said.

Mizaya emphasised the importance of art, culture, and creativity for their event because those are powerful elements that people use to express their freedom.

"We express it through music, dance and poetry-we express our freedom from the different cultures we originate from and that is all done from a place of creativity and talent," he said.