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The audience clapped, cheered and sang along to
more than 20 acts including Senegalese rap star Didier Awadi.
"Our mission is to be there with you," he told a jubilant crowd
in the city of Bukavu during the event.
"We have a duty to show solidarity, to be there on the side of
the attacked people," Awadi told Reuters after the show.
The Amani festival, which means "peace" in Swahili, usually
takes place in Goma, capital of North Kivu province.
But it was moved for the first time since its launch in 2014 due
to an M23 rebel offensive that drew close to the city last week.
Bukavu is the capital of South Kivu province, deemed relatively
safer despite the presence of several armed groups.
More than 30,000 people attended the festival, which ran from
Friday to Sunday.
Several artists from Bukavu took part. Singer Reine Saidhate
performed a Mutuashi dance, also known as the dance of freedom.
"As musicians, we don't have the tools to help these mothers who
are suffering from the war. But we pass on our message through
our songs," she said.
(Reporting by Crispin Kyalangalilwa; Writing by Sonia Rolley;
Editing by Sofia Christensen and Alison Williams)
(Photo: Revellers attend the 9th edition of the
AMANI festival with the aim of conveying messages of peace,
entrepreneurship and environmental protection at the Athenee
d'Ibanda in Bukavu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
February 10, 2023. REUTERS/Crispin Kyalangalilwa)
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