Zimbabwean Afro Jazz artist Mwendamberi will make his debut as a headliner at the 2026 Jacaranda Music Festival, bringing a year of artistic and professional growth to one of Harare’s biggest live music stages. Mwendamberi is scheduled to perform on Saturday, 3 October, during the three day festival at Thornpark Polo Club, which runs from 2 to 4 October under the theme “The Music, The People, The City”.
For the artist, whose name translates to “one who keeps going forward”, the appearance represents another step in a trajectory that has gathered momentum over the past year. His musical philosophy is captured in the phrase “Not Just Jazz, #AJourney”, reflecting an approach that places Afro Jazz within a broader exploration of African rhythms, culture and personal experience. The journey has included a headline performance at the ACCES Showcase Festival in South Africa in November 2025, followed by a single release in December. In June this year, Mwendamberi released Mwari Wee, which has since become a chart topping song and one of the defining releases of his current run.
Much of his growth, however, has happened away from the larger stages. Throughout 2026, Mwendamberi has performed at a series of intimate shows in and around Harare, developing a closer relationship with audiences and refining a live performance style built around interaction between artist and crowd. He has also spent part of the year developing the business side of his career through the Music Connects Africa incubation programme, an upskilling initiative designed to strengthen artists’ business knowledge and professional capacity.
For his manager, Diana Elisha Nheera, the Jacaranda headline slot is a reflection of that broader development.
“This has been a defining year for Mwendamberi. From headlining ACCES in South Africa in November 2025 to watching ‘Mwari Wee’ resonate the way it has, we’ve seen an artist come into his own, not just musically, but in how he shows up for his audience and for his craft,” Nheera said.
She added that the Music Connects Africa programme had helped strengthen the business foundations behind the artist’s creative growth.
“Landing a headline slot at Jacaranda Music Festival feels like the natural next step in that journey, and we couldn’t be prouder to bring Mwendamberi to a stage of this scale, in his own city,” she said.
Mwendamberi is promising a performance that draws together the different elements that have defined his work. His set will form part of a wider programme bringing musicians from Zimbabwe and the region together for a weekend built around live performance and musical exchange. For Mwendamberi, the festival provides an opportunity to present the work of the past year to a much larger home audience while introducing new material that builds on his existing catalogue. For an artist whose name speaks to forward movement, the Jacaranda stage offers a fitting setting for the latest chapter of Mwendamberi’s journey.
