Lake of Stars Malawi Music Festival

Festival Events:

Line-up 2008:

• Lucius Banda and Zembani band - live (Malawi)
• Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1/Worldwide) London
• Mlaka Maliro and Skeffa Chimoto - live (Malawi)
• Blue African Skies - live (South Africa)
• Goldfish - live (South Africa)
• Edgar & Davis - live (Malawi)
• Annie Mac (BBC Radio 1) London
• Rob da Bank (Bestival/BBC Radio 1) London
• Elias Kadwala & King Yellow - live (Malawi)
• Park Town Band - live (Malawi)
• Rodney P & Skitz - live (BBC1Xtra) London
• Skeffa Chimoto - live (Malawi)
• The Petebox – Former UK beatboxing champion
• Drew (Power Fm 101) Malawi
• Makambale Brothers - live (Malawi)
• Malipenga Dancers - live (Malawi)
• Joe Driscoll - live (New York)
• Yewande - live (Atlanta, US)
• Trenton (Black Mango Music) South Africa
• Stone Halo - live (London)
• Neech - live (London)
• Beatlife Drummers - live (UK)
• Artisan - live (UK)
• Bearknuckles - live (UK)
• The Counterfeits - live (UK)
• Tim Short and Ruby - live (UK)
• DJ Scarpper (Malawi)
• Deviate guys (Newcastle)
• Geddes (Mulletover) London
• Dexterity (Unsound System) South Africa
• DJ Duzzle (Malawi)
• Kid Blue (Fat!) London
• DJ Lomwe - Power Fm 101 (Malawi)
• Magrelo (Future World Funk) London
• Ste Hodge (Dusty/Common Ground) Liverpool
• DJ Chief (Malawi)
• Fletcher (African Dope) South Africa
• Paddy Freeform (Universal Vibes) London
• Bodytonic DJs (Dublin)
• Ruffneck/Isotone (Curves) Newcastle
• Chibuku Shake Shake DJs (London / Liverpool)
• Scott Carey (Stylus) Manchester
• Wipe the Seat DJs (London)
• Eric Soul (Rwanda/London)
• Superfly Ky (UK)
• DJ Spekta (South Africa)
• Frenchy & Errol Brown (Dirty Disco) Leeds
• Pierre-Estienne (Midnight Men) South Africa
• Shivoo DJ’s (UK)
• Ray Willbern (Brique Rouge) Nottingham
• People Get Real (Wax: On) Newcastle
• Ohms & Mikhail Kuzi (Kenya)
• MOAI (Electric Playboys Club) Brighton
• Offbeat (Unsound System) South Africa
• Mr Dorris (Bang!) London
• Husley & Gunz (Denmark/London)
• Itchysoul DJs (London)
• Joe Europe (UK)
• Jahawi (Kenya)
• Dan Wax: On (Newcastle)
• Familyman (Kenya)
• Cassette Jam (Leeds)
• DJ Rudy (Holland)
• Bang! DJs (London)
• Al Fooks (Liverpool)
• Porky Scratching (Malawi)

Other Sources:

Videos:

• Lake of Stars 2007 trailer, created by Carlos & Jade from South Africa. Courtesy of Lake of Stars.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlwtX9qU70&feature=related

Articles and Reviews:

• The Guardian: ‘The event is pitched somewhere between a Womad-style showcase and a north of England rave’
• Songlines Magazine: ‘One of the world’s most extraordinary festivals’
  
  • The festival was borne from a desire to raise money for a developing economy and help promote Malawi as a tourist destination. Set on the shimmering, palm-fringed shores of Lake Malawi at Chintheche Inn, for three days Western and Malawian artists gather for a musical, social and cultural exchange which is unlike anything you will ever see or hear. This year’s guests include Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson, Annie Mac and Rob da Bank as well as rising stars The Wombats and Malawi’s biggest reggae legends, the Black Missionaries. For many the festival is the focal point of travelling around this beautiful country, forming part of an itinerary spanning what Malawi has to offer. You can travel on an organised group flight or make your own way to Malawi. Whatever you do, make sure you’re there this year to be part of something truly unforgettable!
• Andy Cato (Groove Armada): ‘You’ll never see music cross as many boundaries and borders as this, and you’ll never listen to music in a more special place’
  
  • Malawi: Africa’s most diverse country. You’re spoilt for choice: Lake Malawi is great for all manner of water sports: kayaking, scuba diving, snorkelling, swimming, water-skiing—all in warm, salt-free water. Climb or trek up Mount Mulanje (Central Africa’s highest peak) or the lush Zomba Plateau. Go horse riding—including riding with game. Visit some of the nine game parks. Try mountain biking through forests and past waterfalls or simply chill out on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Head to the festival and the stunning Chintheche Inn: waves crash onto the white sand, wide lawns and colourful gardens stretch out leading to the main stage and the beach bar, built beneath a mango tree, with decking leading out to the beach. This is a great country to meet the people: wander into traditional villages to get a greeting from the ‘warm heart of Africa’. The landscape varies from the sandy beaches to the high plateaux and mountains. Every time you turn a corner in the road there’s another completely different vista.

Practical Info:

Tickets:

• Tickets outside of Malawi available from Ticketline
  
  • Online http://www.ticketline.co.uk
  • Phone (+44) (0) 161 832 1111
  • Cost £40 plus booking fee
• Tickets in Malawi available from the following outlets
  
  • Harry’s Bar, Old Town, Lilongwe
  • Phone: (+265) (1) 757 979
  • James’ Joint, Lilongwe
• If you cannot reach any of these outlets please email will@lakeofstars.co.uk to reserve a ticket on the gate at the festival.
• UNICEF
  The festival will donate £2 of each UK ticket sale to UNICEF’s project in Malawi. As well as this Lake of Stars will donate any profit raised to UNICEF. Funds from Lake of Stars will go towards a UNICEF water supply and sanitation project in the Dowa District of Central Malawi. For more details on this please visit http://www.lakeofstars.co.uk

How to get there from the UK:

• Global Link Travel
  Lake of Stars has teamed up with Global Link Travel to bring you some of the lowest fares available.  Global Link Travel is a charity travel company specializing in dealing with Humanitarian, Aid, Disaster relief organizations as well as charities and missionaries. Head office based in London with locations in Africa, India, USA and Brazil. Global Link will donate £5 for every air ticket issued for this festival to UNICEF. Please quote ‘Lake of Stars’ when making your booking.
  
  • Phone 0207 224 7766
  • Email Fabian@globallinktravel.co.uk
  • Office—
    Capricorn House
    1 Mandeville Place
    London, W1U 3AW

Artist bookings:

• The Lake of Stars Festival is a not-for-profit event that is committed to raising £5000 for a UNICEF water supply and sanitation project in Malawi. Because of this, and because the festival receives no sponsorship or outside funding, budgets are extremely low. Only a handful of the international headline acts get their expenses covered and none of the international artists receive fees. They are instead asked to treat the trip to Lake of Stars as a holiday as well as a chance to be part of a unique and diverse line-up with media coverage from Radio 1, Mixmag, DJ Mag, The Guardian, Metro, Songlines Magazine, IDJ magazine and many more. The festival is also a good chance to meet artists from all over southern Africa. If you are still interested in performing at Lake of Stars 2007 please email us your biography and links to music or post a CD to:
  
  • Lake of Stars Festival
    7 Driftway
    182 Grove Road
    Bow, London E3 5TG
    Phone: (265) (0) 8-878 888
    Email: festival@eomw.net, or
    will@lakeofstars.co.uk

Where to stay:

• Malawi has a wide range of accommodation to suit every need—from simple beach huts to 5 star hotels. Accommodation during the festival is either camping on site at Chintheche Inn or staying at any of the resorts nearby (shuttle buses operate between the festival and the neighbouring lodges).
• Rough price guide to accommodation
  
  • Camping £3 pn, dorm bed £4 pn, private room £7pn, ensuite room £12 pn, hotel room £25 pn
• To arrange your festival accommodation
  
  • By email
    mailinfo@wilderness.mw
  • By phone
    (+265) 1 771 393
• For further accommodation info visit http://www.lakeofstars.co.uk, and http://www.malawitourism.com

Find out more about the country:

• Online
  http://www.malawitourism.com
• By email
  enquiries@malawitourism.com
• By phone
  (+44) (0) 115 982 1903
• Also check The Spectrum Guide to Malawi by John Douglas and Kelly White, or any of the Rough Guides, or Lonely Planet guidebooks on Central Africa.

Do you have an update or more information about this festival? Email us at updates@kadmusarts.com
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