“Partying with a Purpose” at Malawi’s Lake of Stars Festival

Abstract

Founded in 2003, the Lake of Stars Festival (LOS) has grown to become the largest annual beach party in Malawi, and one of the largest on the African continent. The festival has received acclaim from media outlets for not only organizing an enthralling party, but also being sensitive to the destination’s people and culture. Modeled after other large festivals such as Glastonbury and Live Aid, the festival invites attendees to the beaches of Lake Malawi to party—but with culture, development, and aid in mind. This article examines the “party with a purpose” model by analyzing the case of LOS through the perspective of political economy scholarship. It pays particular attention to the raced, classed, and gendered power dynamics within the global tourism industry and the aid-based development sector. While analyzing the ways LOS benefits Malawi and allows Malawians space to be active agents, the article also focuses on the ways LOS contributes to the inequalities in the global tourism sector. It concludes that LOS benefits Malawi by advancing mass tourism, cultural awareness, and tourism development, and allowing Malawians an opportunity to be active agents within the constraints of the tourism industry. However, the festival simultaneously reproduces and reinforces global inequality due to its development and aid goals as well as the structure of global tourism, development, and international aid industries.