Greetings and salaams from Stone Town and we hope this note finds you well. The heat is on and expectations high in Zanzibar with only weeks to go ‘til the fifth edition of Sauti za Busara. We’re building up a healthy head of steam in the festival office, where the staff, like the fans, are running full speed all day and late into the night. The shimmering turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean are a stone’s throw away - if only we could find time to dive in once in a while!

African music lovers among you will have noticed every year BBC and fROOTS music critics nominate four groups from each Continent, of which one is chosen as This Year’s Best. In 2006, two groups were nominated from West Africa, and one from East. In 2007, the score was the same: West 2, East 1. The nominations have just been announced for the 2008 World Music Awards, with West scooping 3 to East Africa’s nil.

Judging from the wealth of international CD releases over the years, we believe that the critics are right. But if the Awards were for live music, we reckon the East Africans would be in with a chance. Come to Zanzibar in February and judge for yourselves.

It’s only once or twice a year that West African musicians get to perform in East Africa (unlike most countries in Europe, we note with jealousy, where it seems there is a Malian band performing every other week!) Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom) showcases forty of the best. Established as well as upcoming groups from East Africa and, as you’ll read below, among the away teams for 2008, a bunch of kora and ngoni masters from the West Side also join the party!

As Simon Broughton points out in the opening words of this month’s Songlines, his “most treasured memories of African music are of hearing it in situ with an African audience.”

This February, believe us, Zanzibar is the only place to be.

Old Fort, Stone Town, 7 - 10 February 2008

Confirmed line up includes forty groups from East Africa and beyond:

	Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba (Mali) Winners of BBC World Music Awards Album of The Year 2007. Doubly nominated for Best Group (Africa) AND Best Newcomer in BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards 2008
Malouma (Mauritania) Genre-bending and provocative, the mystical voice of Mauritania spent August and September 2007 at Number 1 in World Music Charts Europe
	Maalesh (Comoros) Best Group, Indian Ocean, Prix Musiques de L'Ocean Indien Award, 2007-2008

and… Artists featuring in the 2008 festival include: Seckou Keita Quartet + (West Africa / Europe),  Bi Kidude (Zanzibar),   Bantu & Afrobeat Academy Band (West Africa / Europe),  Yunasi (Kenya),  Bring the Noise! (Pan Africa),  Ahmed el Salam (North Africa / Europe),  Afrodynamix (West Africa / Europe),  Celloman (Europe),  National Taarab All Stars (Zanzibar),  Maulidi ya Homu ya Mtendeni (Zanzibar),  Eric Wainaina & the Mapinduzi Band (Kenya),  Nfithe (Mozambique),  N'faly Kouyaté and Dunyakan (West Africa / Various),  Sakaki Mango (Japan),  TMK Majita Original (Tanzania),  Maurice Kirya (Uganda),  Mwana FA (Tanzania),  Nako2Nako Soldiers (Tanzania),  Jaymoe (Tanzania),  Splendid Theatre (Tanzania),  7 Survival (Tanzania),  Tibirinzi All Stars (Pemba),  Z. Anto (Tanzania),  Kassim (Tanzania),  Madee (Tanzania),  Jahazi Modern Taarab (Tanzania),  Mrisho Mpoto (Tanzania),  Black Roots (Zanzibar),  Akhenaton Family (Zanzibar),  Moto Combat (Kigoma cha Uchokozi) (Tanzania),  Kiki Taarab (Zanzibar),  Yange Yange Trio (Tanzania),  Jakamoyo (Tanzania),  Kijiji Family The Big Nation (Zanzibar),    and more to be announced.

The main stage is constructed in between banana trees, inside the ancient walls of the Old Fort in Stone Town, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Performances continue non-stop from 4pm to 1am daily. The venue will host two festival bars, kiosks selling meals and snacks, local and international music, clothes and local handicrafts.

Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom) welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds.
It is organised by Busara Promotions, a non-profit cultural NGO based in Zanzibar.

see www.busaramusic.org for latest information

Festival Finalé Party, 12 February 2008

We are pleased to announce the festival finale party, featuring live music, DJs and acrobats will be held at Fairmont Zanzibar.

The Fairmont Zanzibar is located on the beautiful north east coast of Zanzibar, famed for miles of white powder sandy beaches and pristine coral reefs.

More info: www.fairmont.com/zanzibar

Accommodation, Airport Transfers, Tours & Safaris

For all your travel and accommodation enquiries within Zanzibar and flights anywhere in Africa, we warmly recommend Tabasam Tours at www.tabasamzanzibar.com.

They can arrange airport transfers, book accommodation and reserve 4-day festival passes. For special discounts on some hotels, be sure to mention reference "BUSARA". While visiting Zanzibar you may also be interested in, for example: Beach Hotels & Resorts, Diving and Snorkeling, Dhow and Sunset Cruises, Dolphin Tours, Spice Tours, Stone Town Tour, Prison Island Tour, Jozani Forest Tour, Tanzania mainland Safaris, Car and Motorbike Hire.

For too many late nights over the past few months we have been writing and compiling a stunning array of photographs recollecting scenes of the festival's history for a coffee-table book, published in collaboration with Zanzibar Gallery. Many thanks are due to all at ZG who worked tirelessly to help produce this labour of love.   Be sure to get a copy of "Busara - Promoting East African Music", available in all good bookshops from January.

BUSARA 5 CD (+ DVD)

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Sauti za Busara music festival 2008 is generously powered by:

Zantel Ford Foundation British Council, Tanzania CULTURESFRANCE Embassy of France

Music Crossroads, fROOTS Magazine, Embassy of Germany, Zanlink, Tabasam Tours, Mercury’s Restaurant, Archipelago Café-Restaurant, Café Foro, Stone Town Café, Alliance Française, DHL, Dhow Countries Music Academy, and www.zanzibar.net Thanks also to: Ministry for Information, Culture & Sports, and to all the people of Zanzibar: "Shukurani kwa kukubali kuwa tamasha hili ni letu sote na mchango wenu ndio ambao umelifanikisha."

As many of you have noticed, our established web address has been unavailable for the past few weeks. However, the good news is that normal service is available - for all the latest news and information with regular updates on the festival - at:

www.busaramusic.org

To our many friends worldwide who have links from your websites, please change your links to point to www.busaramusic.org

East Coast Beach Party Sat 22 December, sunset til late, admission free Kinazi Upepo, Paje – ft. DJ Yusuf & the Routes in Rhythm Soundsystem Dance music from around the world
Film Screening: As Old As My Tongue; The Myth & Life of Bi Kidude Eid 1 and Eid 2 (first and second days of Eid ul Hajj festivities), 8pm and 9.30pm Forodhani Gardens, Stone Town, admission free More info: www.asoldasmytongue.net and www.myspace.com/screenstation
New Year's Eve Beach Party Mon 31 December, sunset 2007 til sunrise 2008, admission free Kinazi Upepo, Paje – ft. DJ Yusuf & the Routes in Rhythm Soundsystem Dance music from around the world hakuna kulala!

Seasonal greetings and very best wishes for Eid Mubarak,

Happy Christmas and a peaceful, healthy and busara-filled 2008.