Lake of stars: bigger, better

Lake of Stars (LoS) has been one of the largest entertainment destinations in the world. Following a two-year break, the festival has grown tremendously to drawing 4 000-plus patrons from across the world.

But how was this idea conceived?

In 1998, Will Jameson a volunteer from London who was working in Malawi, went to Dwangwa in Nkhotakota where he was amazed by the natural beauty of Malawi. Dazzled by the beauty, he asked himself “how can I tell this to others? How can I let the whole world know about this beauty?”

Jameson told On the Arts that he then went back to UK only to come back on a mission, to let people know about the beauty of Malawi—but how?

In 2002, Jameson was ready to start with the festival, but he failed to pursue the dream after a food crisis hit the nation.

In 2004, people had food in their granaries and things were going on well economically so it was a perfect moment to hold the festival.

“Within the period from 2002 to 2004 I had built a strong network with tourism players in the country. And everyone bought the idea. So, that’s when we had the first Lake of Stars at Chintheche in Nkhata Bay,” he said.

After seven years of holding the festival, the festival went back to the drawing board to assess and take stock.

And after a two-year hiatus, the festival returned this year—bigger and better.

The non-stop entertainment, state-of-the-art sound equipment and a list of 72 artists of different nationalities is pure evidence of the growth of the festival.

To get there, Jameson said they conducted workshops and training sessions with stakeholders such as artist on how they best could reach out to bigger audiences.

Other commentators have argued that the festival is not Malawian, but Jameson defended it, saying it is an international event that is truly Malawian.

“I might be from London, but I can tell you that most of the people working for Lake of Stars are Malawians. It is giving business to Malawian entrepreneurs and the surrounding community is benefiting a lot from the event,” said Jameson.

With the dates for the next festival having been announced, there is a lot of excitement building up already. But for the festival to be a success there is still need to tighten some bolts and keep on improving.

Jameson says they are working on improving logistics of the festival to make sure that it is a success.

This year’s festival, which drew to a close on Sunday at Sunbird Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi, was affected by death of a reveller who drowned in the hotel’s swimming pool on Saturday morning.

Jameson expressed regret over the death of the patron and sent word of condolence to the family.

“It is a sad development, but where there is a large gathering like this sometimes things go wrong. We took all the necessary safety measures, but with 4 000 people having fun, it is hard to monitor everyone,” he said.

Jameson says they had 12 Marines, 60 G4S guards, five security managers from the UK, 12 rapid response teams and an ambulance.

But coming to the festivities, Black Missionaries, who happy with their lightning set on Saturday night, said they were impressed with this year’s festival, saying with an increased number of patrons, their exposure was increased.

“It was nice performing to such a large crowd. We could feel that the people were enjoying. So the increase in the numbers transfers some energy,” said band leader Anjiru Fumulani.

Sally Nyundo, who performed on the opening night, said it is a pleasure to perform at the festival as it gives them exposure and also helps Malawian music flourish.

“This festival also gives us as artists a chance to sample what our colleagues from other countries are doing in terms of art. We build networks that will enable us to further our artistry,” said Nyundo.