“We got involved with this festival because we run a charity in the UK called Global Music Exchange. This was set up after recording music of the Baka hunter-gathering people in the Cameroonian rain forest. Because of this experience of recording indigenous music and returning royalties for sustainable community projects, the funders of Festival Under the Stars, the Christensen Fund, asked us to help with this project in Ethiopia.

“The highlights so far? Well, imagine animal skins and waving spears followed by nearly naked groups from desert lands, leaping into the air as high as they can, and brightly dressed mountain peoples with flutes, drums and trumpets, all trying to out dance and perform the next group. The huge crowd went wild and the atmosphere was truly exuberant

“Visitors come because this southern region is so rich in diverse cultures and for many of us it is a real eye opener to see that these cultures still exist. To see this many groups together is remarkable: if you were to travel to their homelands it would take months, so it is an important, fascinating and rare cultural crossroads with wonderful and diverse song and dance traditions. People come from very varied environments, ethnic and language groups.

“It isn’t primarily a time to show tourists their cultures but for self expression for themselves and to discover the cultures of their fellow southerners.

“As well as the usual activities, this year there will be nine groups we have never been seen before at the festival as well as sections for solo artists playing quieter instruments and singing history songs. Arba Minch is the centre of Gamo Gofu region and choirs from 5 local schools will sing songs of the area as part of the program.”

Well, if that doesn’t whet your appetite and you need yet more persuading to visit the birthplace of humanity, follow some of these links below.

Details:
2nd Folk Music and Dance Festival of Ethiopia in Arba Minch
Venue: The Football Pitch
Date: 16th - 18th December, between 3.00pm - 7.00pm daily.

Getting there:
Arba Minch is 500 kms south of the capital, Addis Ababa, and is the main town en route to the Omo valley. Ethiopia Airlines fly twice weekly from Addis Ababa. The festival is a free event funded by The Christensen Fund of Californian association with Global Music Exchange

Links:
1 Heart
Arba Minch Folk Music Festival
Ethiopian Airlines