Xere Cultural Festival to showcase Basarwa heritage
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday August 6, 2023 06:00
The occasion also targets to showcase the culture and heritage of the Basarwa people. In an interview with Arts & Culture, the event organisor Rapula Kegopilwe said the ultimate objective of the event is to establish the Xere Cultural Village and grow the cultural tourism. He said this would help diversify the socio-economic base of the village and further create employment.
Kegopilwe added that the event targeted to take advantage of the growing cultural and adventure tourism that has been growing exponentially in Botswana. “It is evident that this type of tourism can positively contribute towards the tourism sector and destination diversification. The primary objectives of this event include the establishment of a cultural village in Xere, a village between Rakops and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), which will create a platform for cultural preservation and empower communities by way of creating employment,” Kegopilwe said.
“It also intends to develop and showcase culture and heritage programmes for the Xere settlement, thus developing human capacity, helping them to manage their socio-economic programs and sustainably conserve their natural resources.
“Those in attendance should expect an action-packed two days of activities such as outdoor camping, sunset downers picnic, game drives, Basarwa song and dance night and star gazing just to mention but a few,” he added.
He further explained that Xere settlement was uniquely located to deliver a fun-filled event that would allow revellers to indulge in what the environment has to offer such as the flora and fauna, various depressions and a variety of wildlife of the CKGR. He added that the 2023 event was the inaugural event adding that it would go on to be held annually. “The event will feature various exhibitions of the Basarwa culture; food, song and dance, healing and spirituality. The event will showcase the end-to-end traditional way of life of the Basarwa.
Other activities will include; animal tracking, game drives, and quad rides across the Makgadikgadi bush walk, culminating in the song and dance night festival. All Batswana are welcome. The event is family-friendly and targets to be insightful,” Kegopilwe added. He further explained that the event planning has been smooth as it has been in the cards for a long time. He added that extensive stakeholder consultations were undertaken before the commencement of the marketing of the event.
Furthermore, he encouraged Batswana to attend the event and have an insightful learning experience of the true Basarwa traditions. He said the event would feature an extensive serving of game meat and also said cooler boxes are allowed. “Traditional Basarwa adult drinks will be served also. The day access ticket is P100 and children under 12 years access the event freely.
The event has additional packages of P8,500 VIP and P5,500 Standard, which include two nights of tented accommodation for two, catering and access to day activities such as game drives and tracking. The event will feature exclusively traditional song and dance artists from Xere Village,” he ended.