Laura
Creative Director & Co-Founder
Laura works year-round to make Zomba City Festival a success. She is the main curator and the creative brain behind the event.
Zomba City Festival 2025 marks the fifth edition of this multi-arts, multi activity festival open to all ages.
The festival’s mission is to highlight Zomba as a tourism destination and to showcase African Arts and culture. ZCF happens across several venues in Zomba, and is different each year.
Zomba City Festival offers poetry, fashion, yoga, live music, wellness, book readings, theatre, DJs, Dance, film, karaoke and much more.
Zomba City Festival (ZCF25)
Zomba is a small city with history, Malawi’s oldest university and beautiful green botanic gardens. Explore the city of Zomba during the 5th edition of Zomba City Festival from 2 until 4 May 2025 organised by ZAP.
Zomba City Festival is an arts festival with spoken word & poetry, fashion, visual arts, dance, theatre and music at various locations in town.
How does it work? imagine..
Imagine, you arrive in Zomba on Thursday evening, check into your accommodation and head to UNIMA for a free party.
On Friday morning you can have a lay-in or choose to join the team cleaning the city or the Mayor of Zomba who will officially open the event.
Lots of things are happening in the afternoon and in the evening you head to The Mixed for a drink and dance.
On Saturday morning you have breakfast at The Heritage Centre in the Gymkhana Building with spoken word and poetry.
In the afternoon there is an art exhibition in the Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens are the main venue on Saturday for food & drink stalls, a market, games, activities for children, sports and live music.
You can attend a fashion show where Malawian designers showcase their work. On Saturday night there are various parties at TnD conference centre and a movie theatre.
Sunday has a similar programme; more spoken word and poetry at The Heritage Centre and more at TnD conference centre.
More information about the festival can be found in the ‘ZCF survival guide’
If you are a female creative in Malawi and ready to unleash your talent, then apply to join The Future Is Female, a year-long journey of collaborative art creation, capacity building, and interdisciplinary exploration, also aimed at promoting and destigmatizing women’s participation in the creative sector.
Empowered by Zomba Arts Platform, Music Crossroads Malawi, Tumaini Letu, EU delegation to Malawi, the Embassy of Ireland, British Council Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe, Goethe Institute, you get to travel across Malawi, staying at stunning locations while you also showcase your talent at Tumaini Festival, Zomba City Festival, and Pakhonde Ethno Music Festival.
Break barriers and stigmas surrounding women in the creative sector and be a part of shaping Malawi’s creative future.
Don’t miss this chance to collaborate, grow, and inspire with The Future is Female which is about empowering women and enriching creativity.
Apply now at www.futureisfemalemw.com to join the movement!
Andrew
Project Manager
Hitman
Director
Dereck
Administrator
Angela
Hospitality & PR
TeeWee
ME & sponsoring
Annelies
Co-Founder & Security
Annelies takes care of crew and is in charge of security
Zomba arts platform supports creatives in supporting themselves through trainings, mentoring, incubation, networking, events & competitions