Lake of Stars Music Festival

When the time draws closer and closer to the month of October, it always seems like the stars are all aligning and the enchanted roads that lead to Mangochi seem to appear from a long slumber. The quiet colonial influenced Lake District becomes a bustling and busy area during this time and all roads lead to the glistening palm-fringed shores of Lake Malawi, the Lake of Stars.

     

Lake Malawi's nickname, "lake of stars" was coined by David Livingstone. This name came about due to lights from the lanterns of the fishermen in Malawi on their boats that resemble, from a distance, stars in the sky.

The four day international music festival takes place on the beautiful shores of Africa's third largest freshwater lake. It’s the annual music festival that brings a variety of artists from around the world in a clash of genres that seems to fuse perfectly to create a yearly unforgettable weekend. Over 80 artists perform during the entire weekend offering a variety of music including afropop, jazz, reggae, R’n’b e.t.c and they never forget to include local Malawian artists which add a unique experience as it showcases local Malawian talent to the world. Over three thousand people travel to Malawi just for this music festival and it is without a doubt Malawi's number one tourist event of the year. Malawians in their thousands even flock to this festival.

The atmosphere is brilliant. The sun, sand and cool waters add to a refreshing and relaxing tropical environment. There is food, drinks and many stages with various performances to keep you entertained for hours. The decorations are also a site to see.

 

  

It is amazing, it seems like the whole world converges on one shore, as you can hear so many different languages and accents that it gets so overwhelming and everyone comes because of their love of music and to have an unforgettable time. Despite a clash of cultures, traditions, ethnicity and religions it is so peaceful and vet so vibrant, it’s inspiring to see so many people with different backgrounds getting along as if nothing else in the world matters apart from just the music and fun filled weekend.

The event was founded by Will Jameson, and was born of his desire to raise money for a developing economy whilst helping to promote Malawi as a tourist destination and expose Malawian artists to international crowds. The festival has grown to achieve international success, even the guardian quotes it as “The World’s Most Spectacular Music Festival”.  Lake Of Stars offers an excellent opportunity to sample the underexposed music of some of south east Africa's best performers. Also expose people to some music and artists from around the world.  It's an incredible accomplishment that's getting better by the year. Lake of Stars is an event not to be missed.