They brought us Anne Kansiime and filled up the Harare International Conference Centre, a historic event as no comedy show to date has managed to attract such numbers. After that, they hosted USA based Zimbabwean comedian, Alfred Kainga at the Reps Theatre – the first time he had performed in the country and it was sold out, with many being turned away on the night.
Buoyant with this success and driven by a passion to see local comedians blossom, Xtratime Entertainment will this year host the country’s first-ever, comedy festival Dubbed ‘Sekerera Harare International Comedy Festival’ (SHICOF).
The festival will run from August 7-9 featuring some of the best acts from Zimbabwe and the region.
“We will have a host of Zimbabwean comics based in and outside Zimbabwe performing at the festival. We will also have comedians from the African continent and the world participating at the festival,” said Xtratime Entertainment director, Tongai Mbidzo.
“Negotiations with targeted comedians from all over the world have started and line-ups and programme will be released in due course,” he added.
Mbidzo revealed that the festival going forward will be an annual event on the Zimbabwe entertainment scene.
“As a build-up to the festival, a series of comedy shows with Zimbabwean and international comedians will be hosted monthly, continuing what Xtratime Ent had been doing in previous years,” he shared.
On how they came up with the name of the festival he said, “We are experienced in the comedy game and its high time we level up by planting an annual and permanent smile on Zimbabweans, hence the festival name Sekerera (Meaning Smile).
