The founder for Soul Clap Sessions, Thandeka Vabaza, known as Nkqo, confirmed that as part of the Youth Month Celebration, Soul Clap Sessions would be hosting an arts festival under the theme “Roaring Mics” on June 18 at the Mthatha Community Art Centre in Mthatha.
He said that this festival is aimed at celebrating the fiery spirit that their young people possess.
“It is the very same fiery spirit that moved the Youth of 1976 to impact social change in their communities. It would showcase a variety of arts forms and activities on the day such as craft stalls, poetry, dance, film screenings and live performances,” said Vabaza.
He added that they had invited artists from other districts such as the Buffalo City Metro, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and others.
According to him, they wanted to expose local artists to the industry and to networks by mingling, learning, and sharing with other creatives from different districts.
“This festival is part of Soul Clap Session’s audience development strategy; hence it’s a free access arts space for the community to consume art and close the gap in their relationship respectively.”
Vabaza added that the Roaring Mics Arts Festival addresses the participation of women, youth, and people living with disabilities in the creative sector.
“This festival marketing strategy is predominantly an online marketing strategy; Soul Clap Sessions online platforms have over 7 000 followers.”
He added that word of mouth would play a critical role in getting the word out about the Roaring Mics Arts Festival.
“Soul Clap Session had formed partnerships with the Mthatha Community Arts Centre and KSD Film forum to ensure that the Roaring Mics Arts Festival met its target of success.
“As from one o’clock in the afternoon KSD Film Screening will take place followed by Poetry at 15:00; then from 17:00, Dance, which will be followed by a live performance starting from 18:00 until 23:00.”
He said Soul Clap Sessions (SCS) are a nomadic and yet digital platform that showcases Eastern Cape creatives. One of their focus areas is touring ventures with artists from various towns to different communities of the Eastern Cape, to conduct creative workshops, networking sessions and staging live performances that collaborate with performers from the area.
The company had more than 10 years’ experience in grassroots development of Eastern Cape artists, having staged more than 300 music shows and a handful of workshops.
“Our footprint is visible in East London, Queenstown, Butterworth, Coffee Bay, Port St Johns and Mthatha respectively.”
