The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), founded in 1999, was abandoned last year as Zimbabwe's economy crumbled and left desperate locals unable to withdraw money from banks.
Despite many sponsors pulling out, festival organisers have revived an event widely seen as an expression of defiance against the country's woes under 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe.
"Cash is everyone's major problem," Chidochemoyo Nemhara, 29, a festival-goer who works for a women's business group, told AFP.
"But we know HIFA is a place to forget about troubles."
At least 100 international musicians, singers, dancers and actors are performing alongside many local artists at a dozen venues across the city.
Mali-based star Habib Koite is due to headline the final night on Sunday in Harare's central park, topping off a schedule ranging from US opera and Irish comedy to Turkish jazz, Dutch techno and Indian dance.
Tafadzwa Simba, HIFA's executive director, said the festival this year lost the backing of several companies, funding bodies and embassies who believed it was "impossible" to hold the event given the nation's economic difficulties.
"Technically speaking, as a country, we are broke. Yet it has happened, and here we are," Simba said.
