NEWS FOCUS: Lake of Stars Festival
LAKE OF STARS
FESTIVAL-GOERS WOULD BE HARD PUSHED TO FIND A LOCATION TO BEAT THE IDYLLIC AFRICAN SETTING OF LAKE OF STARS HELD IN MANGOCHI, MALAWI. A COMBINATION OF CULTURE, ADVENTURE AND A DIVERSE LINE-UP HAS PROPELLED THE MUSIC-LOVERS PARADISE TO BECOME ONE OF THE CONTINENT’S MAJOR ANNUAL MUSIC EVENTS, AND A TRUE HIGHLIGHT IN THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL CALENDAR. ONCE MORE, LAKE OF STARS WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS, ENTHUSIASTIC LOCALS AND SOME KEY BRITISH AV COMPANIES WHO WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO DEBUT THE BRAND NEW MIDAS PRO2C CONSOLE.
In the eight years since the three-day event was established by Will Jameson - who had previously worked as a volunteer in Malawi - the goal of encouraging people from all over the globe to visit the area has been achieved. Last year, more than 100 people from the local area were also employed at the event and $1,000,000 of local spend was generated, of which around a third was in foreign currency. Having been established from a desire
to raise money for Malawi’s developing economy, the ethos behind the award-winning international arts festival is rather unique. Giving back to the local people is a priority for the dedicated team behind the event, so it comes as no surprise that almost all of the staff are volunteers from around the world. When Jameson first encountered Malawi in
10 • TPi NOVEMBER 2011
1998, he was a gap year student volunteering for the Wildlife Society. Jameson became so enamoured with the country, that upon returning to the UK - as a student at Liverpool John Moores University - he soon created a student club night named after a Malawian beer, Chibuku. Said Jameson: “I always wanted to do
something positive for Malawi - something that would attract people to visit the country. Taking inspiration from events such as Glasto and Live Aid, I came up with the concept of an arts-tourism festival in Malawi with local and international artists performing. The first LOS event took place in 2004.” As Lake of Stars’ Founder and Director,
Jameson is continually trying to better the African event seven years on. “What inspires me about the project is the way it combines
the arts and travel to generate economic growth for Malawi,” continued Jameson. “The idea of creating an event that attracts foreign tourists and positive media attention is part of it all. From a consumer’s point of view, you get an adventure, experience new music and art in a stunning location and help a developing economy by spending Forex as you travel around. It’s about the arts, travel and development working together.” Perhaps part of Lake of Stars’ appeal is its
volunteering opportunities, not only on site as with many festival programmes, but with pro audio and lighting aspects too. Jameson elaborated: “We had over 80 volunteers from Malawi and the UK work on the 2011 event. Many of our core volunteers are from the UK events industry, working for such companies as Vespasian Security, Live Nation, RPM,
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