The Sunday Mail
Andrew Moyo
TODAY, Barraza Pavilion in Tynwald is the place to be for those who want to close the weekend in a laid back environment as it plays host to The Cookout.
Introduced in October 2017, the picnic styled event has grown to become a significant monthly fixture on the capital’s leisure scene with hundreds of people attending each edition.
Its popularity is set to blossom even more this year considering that Unplugged Zimbabwe has scrapped off its monthly calendar with organisers adopting a festival format.
While Unplugged is a force in its own right, The Cookout has been offering a different vibe, a setup that has definitely spiced up Harare’s party experience. Music is usually the core of many an event, but this one takes a different direction with the celebration of food being the main focus, thus the name.
It is basically one big picnic where people bring their cooler boxes, camp chairs, blankets and whatever it is they might want to sit on as they enjoy drinks and food with good music animating the ambience.
Despite the fact that the whole setup and atmosphere exudes luxury, entry into the venue is affordable with patrons having to part with $10, payable in advance via different mobile money platforms. The Sunday Mail Society, caught up with one of the co-founders, Donavan “PrayerSoul” Mtamangira, who said the event was a celebration of food and good vibes.
“We just want people to come through and hang out with friends, meet new faces, enjoy food and drinks while just having a good time. The reason why we usually host The Cookout on Sunday is because it is a day that people just want to lay back, relax and have a good time as they recharge for the new week,” he said.
The event was a collaboration of ideas and execution between PrayerSoul and his partner Constantine Nyanziro with the desire to design events that are luxurious but at the same time affordable.
“When we came up the idea of doing The Cookout, we had to come up with a strategy of how to grow it. Fifteen events later we are getting there and we feel like we are just getting started. For our first edition back in October 2017, we were expecting about 60 people and we got about 100 people and it’s just been growing ever since. We are so grateful to our followers who have been loyal and have also been giving us feedback on how we can improve the event,” he said.
He added that people should brace for a lot of surprises this year as they were coming up with more interesting concepts to complement The Cookout. The wet weather conditions might deter people from attending outdoor events, but this particular venue is just perfect as it has a pavilion which can shelter patrons should it rain.
Some of the DJs expected to provide entertainment include King Her, Iroq and Chucknosis.
