The annual Sand Music Festival returned from 30th September to 2nd October at Kambiri Serendib Beach and Resorts in the lakeshore district of Salima, courtesy of Impakt Events. Despite the delayed start on the opening day which organizers attributed to power outages, as the show started past midnight, revellers had a great time.

Day two, on Saturday, the festival started on time throughout Sunday and it seems the festival ended on a good note. In an exciting twist of events, Impakt Events booked one of the festivals longtime critics, BlackJak to host the show. The two had put aside their differences for a greater good of the entertainment industry. Congratulations to both for swallowing their pride.

Despite heavy criticism, the main international headliners, Busy Signal, Yo Maps and Harmonize did not disappoint. In addition, all the artists including Harmonize who was arrested upon arrival in the country, delivered great performances to the satisfaction of most festival goers.

Apparently, Harmonize was arrested under the instructions of another festival organizers, Hangout Events who accused the artist for a no show after pocketing performance fee. It turned out that Hangout Events dealt with a scammer and Harmonize was released.

Another disappointing incident, probably the biggest was when some fans started booing when Impakt Events Manager Lucius Banda came in the middle of Sam Smacks performance to apologise for the delays in the start of the festival.

So what went wrong and what lessons must be learnt?

Firstly, Impakt Events must be ambitious to make Sand Music Festival not just a Malawian but a continental brand. Artists must be booked on merit and avoid branding the festival as a reggae event.

There was a public outcry when Busy Signal was revealed as a headliner. This shows that the artist is not as popular as the organizers assumed. Its 2022 and people still vibe to his 2013 hits. Time is money. Impakt Events must learn to stick to the script and stop giving excuses. We all know that ESCOM cannot be trusted. Make sure that generators are on standby at all times.

Our Reporter interaction with festival goers and music fans has proved that it is perhaps high time Lucius Banda passed the baton to his son, Johnny also known as Mr Zembani to run the show. Johnny is young, energetic and understands this generation. He can bring in fresh ideas which can perfect the festival.

Security was a big problem. The security guards were suspected of theft at the festival. People lost phones and cash. The famous, Impakt Events "Next time" mantra must start yielding results. We all learn from mistakes.