Botswana artists missing Bushfire opportunity

Staff Writer | Thursday June 5, 2014 11:22

The organiser of the event, Jiggs Thorne, said that despite getting over 250 entries from bands all around the globe, very few Batswana artists have applied to perform at the annual Bushfire Festival.

He said that he has no doubt that Botswana has talented artists and gave reference to Shanti Lo’s performance at the event in 2011.

To date Shanti Lo is the only Motswana who has graced the Bushfire stage.

Furthermore, Thorne said that the entries for the artists open in August every year and close in November.  He said performing at the Bushfire Festival offers exchange of opportunities between bands as there gets to be an import and export of culture, which is good for the growth of music.

He explained that their criteria for choosing bands to perform is not complicated because they are simply looking into getting world music that people can appreciate. Thorne added that there is more to Bushfire than the music, saying that it includes other forms of art such as poetry. A number of Batswana attend the festival each year and this year there was a significant increase in the number of Batswana who attended. Amongst the Batswana who graced the festival were Trekkers owner Tops Masole and musician Kabo Leburu. Leburu who said he took his fire with to Swaziland collaborated with other artists in doing a freestyle show on Sunday evening for the crowd that remained when all was done. Another Motswana, Lucky Modise, an initiate Bushfire, said that she really enjoyed it.

“The festival was well organised.  The set-up was excellent and the crowd was crazy, including the food and the artists.  I also made friends from around the world including some from Mozambique, Sweden and Swaziland.  It was a very nice outing for having fun and socialising,” she said.