- Festival a celebration of Basarwa cultural heritage
Organised by the Xere Conservation Trust through the financial and technical support of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Xere Cultural Festival which is a vibrant celebration of Basarwa cultural heritage returns for its second edition this weekend.
The much anticipated event, starts today, August 23rd till Saturday 24th August, 2024 at Xere settlement, located in Boteti, just 14km outside Rakops and adjacent to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).
The organisers recently hosted a media team for an early experience of the festival through a tour which included a game drive into CKGR, a site visit to the event’s venue – and also got to enjoy a mesmerising performance by Xere Dance Troupe during a born fire session.
The festival offers patrons an opportunity to interact with the Basarwa community, and to indulge in their culture and the environment within which they live through music, dance, food and various traditional activities.
The two-day event will comprise of a Sundowner, an exclusive game drive into CKGR and a tour of cultural village for the showcasing of Sesarwa culture such as hunting, cooking and healing processes among other activities.
There will also be an urban night performance featuring Culture Spears, Vee Mampeezy, Franco, Nature Boy, DJ KSB, Monnamogolo Wa Thulaganyo and Chokoma to mention but a few. President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his Vice, Slumber Tsogwane are also expected to grace the festival among other dignitaries.
By Friday last week, Boteti Deputy District Commissioner Ewetse Selelo assured that preparations for the event were at an advanced stage with the final touches expected to be concluded this week. At the time, rehearsals showcasing Sesarwa culture through music, dance among other activities as well as the construction of megwaafatshe (Sesarwa traditional huts) were already ongoing.
Selelo is anticipating for the festival to attract many people indicating that those invited have already confirmed their attendance. “We are expecting more than 5000 people coming from outside to enjoy this festival with us,” said Selelo who attributed the anticipated high attendance to the robust advertisement and promotion of the event already launched by the organisers.
He stressed that proceeds will go to the trust, which will use part of it to develop the village, and address social challenges like poverty.
“In the first edition we had our own challenges but I can assure you that we are doing all we can for this edition to have returns that will go to the Trust for the villagers to benefit from. We agreed that the Trust should assess the needs of the village,” he said when asked as to how much has the festival achieved in terms of giving back to the community.
The deputy district commissioner highlighted that government has already allocated P6.1 million for the construction of a cultural centre which he said it is currently at tendering stage.
