Unplugged will be celebrating 10 years of the festival this weekend, with a concert headlined by Freeman HKD, Feli Nandi, Kim Makumbe and Denimwoods. This will be the first time in 4 years the event won’t be headlined by an international act and the organisers have done that intentionally for this edition, with the aim of celebrating the festival’s roots.
We are going back to our roots and celebrating local talent at this upcoming event.
Launched in the December of 2013 Unplugged is the brainchild of Chiedza Danha and Ellinah Chipumha under the arts organisation Unplugged Zimbabwe. Hosting an edition every month, the festival soon became Harare’s premier monthly music event. However in 2019 the organisers announced a change from a monthly festival to a quarterly one, with four dates a year. The festival was halted in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic but it returned triumphantly in 2022.
Unplugged Zimbabwe has hosted over 60 events, 120+ unique acts and 20+ DJs on its stage. We caught up with the organisers to talk about the journey so far and what to expect for the rest of the year:
How does it feel to be celebrating 10 years of Unplugged?
It’s hard to believe Unplugged has been running for 10 years. We were the first to do this kind of event and it started with the most earnest intentions – to bring people together to celebrate the best of what is local. We had almost 130 artists on the stage in those 10 years. On the balance we can say we did that successfully. It’s bittersweet, as the event is on the brink of change. But we are glad to have impacted the landscape in the way that we did.
What has been the most memorable concert?
It’s hard to say. But those early ones were good. They felt pure and we were excited at the prospect of where the event would go. But Tuku, was also up there for us. It was his first and last performance
Can we expect more editions this year?
There are going to be other events this year leading to an explosive final edition in December.
#Unpluggedat10 will be hosted in Harare at First Capital Bank Sports Club (former Barclays) situated on Norfolk Road, Mt Pleasant. Advance tickets for general access are going for $10, with the Chill Zone priced at $50. Tickets are available at Rainbow Towers, Chapter 2 (Shop 40, Sam Levy Village), Techtools Avondale and via the Gateway Stream website.
