Lake of Stars Festival 2008!
Category: Music

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Lake of Stars Festival 2007
Current mood: amused
Category: Music

This years' Lake of Stars festival was bigger than ever, hosting a line up of international artists from Malawi, the UK, South Africa, Kenya and the USA all bringing their own unique flare to the shores of Lake Malawi as well as the 1700 attendees we had there this year. The festival opened in 2004 and since then has grown from strength to strength and is now considered one of the top choices in international music festivals to UK residents.   As for the local African residents it gives them the chance to express themselves on an international stage and get recognition for their awe inspiring live performances.  From reggae to house, house to ska, ska to funk and a bit of disco to keep the eclectic mix from ever standing still.  It's safe to say Lake of Stars should be in the diary of every music lover for 2008 onwards.

This years' festival took place from Fri 5^th- Sun 7^th October 2007.  Most of the international Lake of Stars guests arrived with an enthused and inspired vigour, one that throughout the festival was let loose as African and international acts alike wooed the crowd with their music.  Most international travellers who came to this year's festival have expressed without hesitation that they shall be back over the coming years.

By midday of the opening day the place was starting to get busy as fresh faces talking of their adventures across Africa or trying to brush up on their Chichewa and English set up their tents, make for the beautiful white sanded beach or head straight to the bar to test out the famous Chibuku beer.  As the sun sets and the sky turns crimson, suddenly the sun worshippers make their way from the beach to the main stage or beach bar to listen to the eclectic sounds from Jahawi (Kenya), Bearknuckles (a live Indie band from the UK), Joe Driscoll (USA),Annie Mac (Radio 1 DJ) amongst others.  The main dance areas are a sight second to none, the mix in culture, dance moves and accents is something that reflects a festival where the people are as varied and interesting as the music genres.  The party never stops as the music plays on until 6am every morning.  Saturday and Sunday offer another chance to feast on the beautiful surroundings and sounds from Magerelo (Future World Funk, London), Blue African Skies (South Africa), Lucius Banda and Zembani band live (Malawi), The Petebox (Former UK beat boxing champion), Goldfish (South Africa), Husley & Gunz (Denmark/London), DJ Duzzle and DJ Lomwe from Power FM (Malawi), Pierre-Estienne (Midnight Men, South Africa), Scot Carey (Stylus, Manchester), Ben Westbeach (UK), Yewande (USA), Makambale Brothers live (Malawi), Tiwonge and Wafipa live (Malawi), Rodney P & Skitz live (BBC1Xtra, London), Edgar and Davies (Malawi), traditional dancing from the Malipenga Dancers (Malawi) and many many more…

It doesn't end here, Lake of Stars does more than just entertain its guests, it also helps raise money for the Malawian economy, in fact an estimated £100,000 this year alone.  Lake of Stars is creating another important platform for the globalisation of music and integration of culture, as well as giving festival lovers from the UK the chance to escape the dull and dismal weather and head to one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  Not only this but all proceeds made from the festival go directly to UNICEF.  With 2008 on the horizon, Lake of Stars welcomes the world to join in as the festival aims to achieve a greater international dimension.  Thank you to everyone that attended this years festival and we look forward to seeing you again amongst the new faces next year. 

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Lake of Stars July / Aug 2007

Friday 6th July ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Versus & Lake of Stars

@ the Rhythm Factory, Whitechapel Rd, London

6pm - 6am

£5 concessions/£7 adv tickets/£10 others

Adv tickets from www.ticketweb.co.uk and www.chibuku.com/shop

In aid of the Lake of Stars Malawi Festival 2007

Live:

Captive State http://www.myspace.com/captivestatemusic

Black Cherry http://www.myspace.com/blackcherrymusic

Eskimo Squad http://www.myspace.com/eskimosquad

Quist http://www.myspace.com/iamtwig

Glimpse http://www.myspace.com/glimpserecordings

DJs:

Unique3  (FAT!)

Brendan Long (Bugged Out) 

Isla GT (*Girlcore* Etoro)

Spinner Shindigs (Bang!) 

Mikki Most (Trailer Trash)

Andy D (Fat!) 

Slauka (Melotronic)

Mike Lennon (EBM) 

Big Nick D (Big Square Records)

Club Nights:

Versus

Temba - Husley & Gunz

Codex - Nico De Ceglia & Dean Muhsin

Lake of Stars

Chibuku Shake Shake

London's nightlife rises up and comes together for one long twelve hour session to help raise awareness and funds for the Lake of Stars Malawi Festival taking place in October 5th-7th out in the heart of Africa.  DJ's, bands and clubnights will all be lending their support to the all important music-tourism event that runs annually on the shores of Lake Malawi in aid of UNICEF.  Kicking off at 6pm there will be live performances from Hackney's Black Cherry  plus  DJ sets coming thick and fast from the likes of Bugged Out's Brendan Long and Fat's Andy D and plenty of dubstep and d n b crammed into the back room.  Expect an all night session with dozens of bands, DJ's, dogs, visuals and much more!  From dusk til dawn and probably rolling on into the next day...don't miss this

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Saturday July 7th

Wipe the Seat & Lake of Stars @ Public Life

Commercial Street, Spitalfields, London

11am - 5pm

£5/£7

A day time party set underground in a converted public toilet...should be fun!

With:

Wandy (Chibuku Shake Shake)

Daniel Anthony (Wipe the Seat)

DJ Farina (Wipe the Seat)

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Chibuku Shake Shake @ Herbal

In support of the Lake of Stars Festival

Saturday July 7th

Rodney P & Skitz

Wandy (Chibuku)

Luke Carr (Chibuku)

Sarah Sweeney (Chibuku)

Pierre-Estienne (Future Retro)

The Itchysoul crew:

Jason Spinks

Matt Young

Alex Stubbs

Alex Kenning

Chibuku Shake Shake rolls up to Herbal for another monthly session.  Combining the best of house, breaks, disco, hip hop, electro, tech-house and more Chibuku keeps the music diverse and the crowd lively!  The last few months have seen parties of superstar proportions with headliners including Annie Mac, Ralph Lawson, Rodney P & Skitz, Chicken Lips, The Rogue Element, Ben Westbeech, Luke Solomon, Terry Farley,  and Greg Wilson.  July is no exception as Chibuku welcomes back Rodney P & Skitz to take on the Main Room plus Cape Town's Pierre-Estienne plays the Bar - all proceeds go towards the Lake of Stars Malawi Festival taking place in Africa October 5th-7th www.lakeofstars.co.uk

9pm-3am

£5 before 10pm/£7 advance/ £10 on the door 

www.chibuku.com

Tickets from www.chibuku.com/shop and www.ticketweb.co.uk 08700 600 100 (24 hrs)

For concessions/groups/guestlist email will@chibuku.com

Herbal, 10/14 Kingsland Rd, Shoreditch, London, E2 8DA

Nearest tube: Old Street

www.herbaluk.com

Strictly no dresscode

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Lake of Stars @ Bumper

Liverpool

Friday July 13th

8pm - 3am  £1

Stuart Patterson (Faith)

Dom Chung (Chibuku)

Emma (Chibuku)

Leo Belchetz (Chibuku)

Russell Reid

Stuart Patterson:

Stuart has been at the forefront of London's cutting edge club scene for over a decade, regularly guesting at the UK's finest nights including Pressure, Basics, Stealth, Bugged Out, and Chibuku.  He has played alongside the likes of Francois K and Laurent Garnier and his much loved Faith nights in London, run with Terry Farley, Bill Brewster, Leo Elstob, and Dave Jarvis, continue to rock.  Look forward to a set that ranges from rare tracks like Dimitri From Paris mix of Atmosfear and DJ Pierre's wild pitch mix of Urban Soul, through to Cajmere's demented 'Midnight' and Carl Craig's classic Paperclip People 'Throw'.

Next Lake of Stars parties at Bumper: August 10th with The Nextmen and unofficial Creamfields Afterparty on August 26th with a very special guest...

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Lake of Stars @ Cargo

Wednesday July 18th

Natty (Atlantic Records) live

The Petebox - live

(Former UK Beatboxing Champion)

Subsource - live

"Easily one of the brightest and dirtiest dance collectives this year" - Spitz Live Records
DJ Kestrel (Friends & Family)

Sarah Sweeney (Chibuku Shake Shake)

8pm - 1am

£5

Drink in the sunshine - check out the beer garden!

Cargo, 82 Rivington St, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3AY

Tubes: Old Street or Liverpool Street

Adv tickets available from:

www.cargo-london.com/shop

www.ticketweb.co.uk / 08700 600100

www.chibuku.com/shop

Info: 07725 428 377

will@lakeofstars.co.uk

www.lakeofstars.co.uk

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Lake of Stars profits to Unicef

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the 2005 UNDP Human Development Report, Malawi ranked 165 out of 177 countries in the 2005 Human Development Index. The per capita gross national product is $170 (down from 2001 where it was $210) and around 65 percent of rural Malawians and 55 percent of urban inhabitants live in dire poverty. The problem is compounded by HIV/AIDS and chronic food and nutrition insecurity. Mortality of children under the age of five is very high with 133 deaths per 1000 live births and almost half of all children under the age of five of chronically malnourished.  Malaria, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections are the three main causes of child mortality and morbidity.  Limited access to safe water and improved sanitation is one of the contributors to poor health and nutrition status among children and the population in general, WHO estimates that diarrhoea attributes to 27 per cent of under five mortality.

Lake of Stars donates all profits to the Unicef 'Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation in Dowa District in Malawi' project with the objective to Increase access of the poorest and under served communities to safe water (within a walking distance of 500 meters) from 62 to 90 percent (see www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/files/Malawi_2004_003_School_Hyg_San.pdf)

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Check out the Lake of Stars articles on Guardian online!

Check the links below to articles on the Guardian website about the Lake of Stars Festival! This year was bigger and better then ever , full review to follow soon. Roll on 2007...

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/activities/culture/story/0,,1863151,00.html

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/2006/09/06/dip_trip_flip_f.html#more

xxx

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INFORMATION ABOUT SOME OF THE MALAWIAN ARTISTS
Category: Music

Here is some inforation about a couple of the Malawian artists playing this year's festival. We will try and get more info up about the rest of our artists soon!

MAHARA
A talented and creative jazz outfit comprising of key Malawian musicians of note, many of whom make up the great Malawian jazz dynamo, Wambali Mkandawires (Sony Music) Ma Nyasa band. Their ages range from 23-34. Apart from Wambali & Ma Nyasa and though made up primarily of Ma Nyasa members, this is currently the only jazz band of note in Malawi. The group is currently working on a MAHARA album and several individual albums.

Mahara Mhango vocalist and acoustic guitarist formerly known as Gift Mhango with roots in gospel music, studied music in the USA, worked and performed in South Africa.
Dan Sibale an accomplished saxophonist (Ma Nyasa) of international recognition in a country where the use of brass instruments is extremely rare.
Leme Jazzman Phiri inspired pianist of international note (Ma Nyasa) a protégé of the great Chuma Soko who is regarded as the greatest jazz producer from Malawi.
Lawrence Khwisa Jazz guitarist and upcoming R & B vocalist. Once he holds a guitar his lines can be mistaken with those of George Bensons fastness on the fingering board. He is currently working with Amaravi Records on his new album.
Godfrey Mbidzi Bassist (Ma Nyasa). High profile veteran musician who started his music profession in his early teens, with Kalimba as a rhythm guitarist. Kalimba band was the first Malawian outfit to tour Europe and the whole of southern Africa with a debut album.
Amos Former band master and Burning Sounds drummer is new to the jazz scene but already very much at home
DT Well known Zimbabwean fitness guru, new to the music scene but already a percussionist to watch.

IFEYO
The most exciting new kids on the block are currently working on their debut album. Their repertoire includes soul, hip-hop, reggae, jazz and pasada music and their unique fusions between the genres. They are the first live funky band that have succeeded in making mainstream music palatable to this conservative environment. Ages 19-26
Lawrence Lulu Khwisa lead guitar
Sam Mkandawire bass guitar
Apatsa drums
Andrew keyboard and MPC
Dominic vocalist and producer

LULU
Lulu is an Ifeyo band member and a Mahara session musician. Talented guitar wizzkid and singer, he drops his debut album in a couple of weeks. The rising RnB star caught the public eye with his hit single a year ago Magwiragwira. The single Mbambande of the samestyled album is in the top twenty. Screaming knickerless girls and lovelorn Romeos are Lulus fans. Watch this space.

x

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Brochure Report on Malawi

"The tourist brochures bill Malawi as 'the warm heart of Africa,' and for once the hype is true. Malawi's scenery is gorgeous and varied and Malawians tend to be extremely friendly toward travellers. It's a real nature-lover's destination: lots of national parks and game reserves, mountain hiking and plateau trekking and the massive Lake Malawi, great for diving, boating or lazing about. The country's reliable transport and compact size make getting about a snap. A broad range of accommodation and activities makes it possible to have a great time whether you're pinching pennies or blowing the bank." -The Lonely Planet

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