The Sunday Mail
Andrew Moyo
ZIMBABWE is blessed with a diverse cultural landscape where people from all corners of the earth are able to express themselves without let or hindrance.
People from all over have fallen in love with Zimbabwe, many of them making it their home.
Among them is a vibrant French-speaking community that is currently running the Francophone Festival, which started on March 10 and wraps up this Thursday.
The festival celebrates all things French through a series of cultural events at different locations in Harare and Bulawayo.
The festival started with the screening of a film titled “Mommy”, which was presented by the Canadian Embassy in Harare.
Several other events fill the festival, including a party with French music, inter-schools talent shows, a music concert featuring Louis Mhlanga and Regis Gizavo, and the famous Bon Mache Sing Your Way to Paris contest, among others.
Among the Harare venues are Ster-Kinekor Borrowdale, Alliance Française, The French School and St Johns College. Monday will see a showpiece of French haute cuisine at La Fontaine Restaurant and Emmanuel’s Restaurant, where patrons will get to have a taste of the best of France.
The major highlight is the closing concert on Easter Eve, which features Cour Royale Rumba Band from DRC. Director of Alliance Française Harare Franck Chabbasseur said the festival brought awareness about the diverse cultures of French-speaking peoples.
“What we are trying to do is to show other countries the cultural diversity of the French-speaking communities from around the world,” said Chabbasseur.
“We used to call it the Francophone Week because it was only running for a single week but now we have extended it to two weeks as more embassies have come on board, which has led to an increase in the number of programmes. This year we have 11 countries participating, among them Canada, DRC, Romania, Greece, EU and Egypt.”
