Blog Managed Travel Services, 31 January 2015

By Eline Jakobs

It’s Marrabenta time!

If you are in Maputo for pleasure or business, try to take in a little ‘Marrabenta’ this week at the 8 th
Marrabenta Festival. Until the 7th of February Maputo and surrounding areas vibrate to the distinctive
sound of Mozambique’s national music, a mix of local rhythms and Portuguese folk music. The festival
will take the music to not only Maputo, but also Marracuene, Matola and Xai Xai. A great opportunity
for a ‘musical getaway’ from the city!

Marrabenta was born in the late 1930s, and on top of classic themes like love and everyday life, it also
offered social criticism and commentary on major events. The lyrics are often in Portuguese, still the
official language of Mozambique, but also in local languages such as Shangaan and Ronga. Its musical
pattern merges European influences and local styles, from Mozambique as well as neighboring
countries. The originators of Marrabenta were ordinary Mozambican men and women, who played
guitar and sang at gatherings. The genre is also known as a form of dance: "What defines Marrabenta is
the dance," says Dilon Djindji, the grandfather of Marrabenta, “The dance has its own steps. It has its
own style. There is also a specific way to play the music. The singing must match the dance and the
melody. That is what shows you it's Marrabenta."

For the 8th consecutive year the Marrabenta Festival is celebrating this unique musical style, bringing
together many musicians, from both old and new generations with the aim to pass the love of
Marrabenta down from old to young.

Djindji will undoubtedly be a major attraction at the Festival’s shows, already in his eighties (!), but still
lighting up the stage with his dance moves. Besides Djindji and other ‘older generation’ stars, like
Wazimbo and Xidiminguane, there will be performances by younger stars of the genre, such as Neyma,
called by CNN "the Beyoncé of Mozambique". At the Mozambican Music Awards in 2013 this
Mozambican superstar won several awards including Best Artist and Album of the Year, confirming that
the genre is still very much alive.

Want to join in the Marrabenta fun?

The festival is taking off today, 31 January, with a show at Independence Square in the middle of
Maputo, joining many of the big marrabenta stars.

If you can’t make this event, don’t worry. There is more to come!

On Monday you can take a break from the city, and get on the Marrabenta train to the neighbouring
village of Marracuene. The train, leaving the station at 14.00, will take both artists and audience to join
the yearly celebrations of Gwazamuthini, a ceremony and re-enactment of the Marracuene battle to
resist Portuguese colonial occupation, led by the warrior Ngungunhane in 1895. Marracuene is about
40km north of Maputo. The train journey takes about two hours, and takes you to join the celebration of
Gwaza Muthini with live music into the night. Be prepared to take your dancing shoes, as the train
doesn’t wait for the party to finish. So you either have to dance till dawn, or organize your own
transport back.

If you can’t make the train journey, you can still join the ongoing festivities at Centro Cultural
Malangatana, the home of the late, famous Mozambican painter Malangatana. The spacious grounds
can be found a short drive after the village of Marracuene (so if you did go there, you can just continue
almost up the road).

Arriving later this week? The artists join twice more, giving performances in Matola on 5 February and in
the city of XaiXai on 7 February.

Best of all? All the shows, with a chance to see many of the most famous artists of Mozambique, are
free!

For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/349504338498687/?ref=br_tf