GARIKAI GARANDE
LAKE OCTOBER FOUNDER

“The 3rd Edition of the Lake October Festival was a resounding success. Everyone one would attest to how the festival has evolved throughout the years and each year we are proving that Masvingo province has a lot to offer in terms of tourism. Our ultimate goal is for the festival to become one of Africa’s premier festivals. It comprises of different disciplines of tourism that include but are not limited to sports tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism and arts in the form of music and dance.
 We are grateful to the business community, the people of Masvingo and Zimbabweans who drove from various cities to attend the festivities and for coming out in their numbers to support our cause. The two concert nights were greatly subscribed, we had various activities in the tourist attractions in Masvingo, we are truly grateful for the love and support. Next year the festival will be bigger and better and this edition we demonstrated how Zimbabweans can host widely organised festivals.”
The festival attracted over 8000 attendees in 2022 and this year the turn was overwhelming, we are grateful for each and every person who turned up to support us and all hotels were fully booked during the festival period. This created huge business opportunities for the tourism sector, in particular hotels, lodges, car hire companies, tour operators and other downstream industries such as retail shops, restaurants, fast food outlets, service stations, arts and curios, just to mention a few.
This year our theme was : A Destination Marketing & Promotion Festival with a Purpose-Tourism for Cancer Awareness
We partnered with the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe to raise awareness about cancer. Annually the Festival through its various projects and activities raises funds for charity. This year the Festival is partnering with Cancer Association of Zimbabwe to raise funds and donations for cancer patients in Masvingo. The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month which is an annual event that aims to spread awareness, raise money and support for people affected by breast cancer.
The Lake October-Great Zimbabwe Tourism Festival is a unique three day festival that uses sport, music and Zimbabwean culture to promote domestic, regional and international tourism to Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo through interaction and social activities. We held the annual charity golf day at Masvingo Golf Club on the 13th of October and we had 40 professional participants.
The opening night of the music festival dubbed ‘Pink Friday Music Concert’ was held on Friday 20 October 2023. The music concert was headlined by live performances from Zimbabwe’s top female artistes Selmor Mtukudzi, Feli Nandi and DJ Liz who gave electric performances that kept us inspired and our toes. Enzo iShall and Winky D performed as a guest artists with fans being treated to live bands till 6 am. We also had partnered with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council who were offering sexual health information and services to festival goers
On Saturday 21 October 2023 the festival shifted to the Great Zimbabwe Monuments for the Great Zimbabwe marathon. We had a fully packed fun day on the shores of Lake Mutirikwi at Tambai Lakeside Park. We had a full day of activities that included tour of Great Zimbabwe Monuments, Lion encounter, game-drives, fun shooting, Quad biking, boat cruises, fishing, beach sports and fun activities. The turnout was massive and we are excited about exploring new opportunities with infusion the lake shores for more exciting events.
In the evening Caravan Park Masvingo hosted Zimbabwe’s top artists, Killer T, Exq, Holyten, Mbeu and King Her set the stage ablaze the ‘ZIM’S FINEST MUSIC CONCERT’. The various artists also paid tributes to the Late music Iconic Garry Mapanzure who hailed from the City of Masvingo.
The artists pulled amazing performances beyond our expectations. We were blown away by the local artists who performed, Charlotte, Ee Square, Majesty, Leon Maunganidze aka Lil Ma, Dvareen to mention just a few who gave super star stellar performances throughout the festival. We are grateful to each and every person that came out to celebrate the diversity , culture, sports and music that the province of Masvingo has to offer. Next year we are shooting for the moon as the 4th Edition of the Lake October Great Zim Tourism Festival will take tourism in Masvingo to greater leaps.