Phikwe cultural group hosts Culture Festival
Correspondent | Friday June 19, 2015 10:56
Selebi- Phikwe cultural group is a traditional group that was formed in 2007 by unemployed youth with the intention of reviving cultural dance. The group, which performs cultural dances such as tsutsube, setapa, phathise and hosanna, has previously represented Botswana in foreign countries such as South Africa where they performed during World Cup.
The group has also performed in Ohio State in United States of America (USA) in a cultural exchange programme called Midfeast festival.
The festival, which will be held under the theme: Phikwe go ya Pele, will be hosted at Anne Adams Park.
The main aim of the festival is to give strong impression to visitors with high return expectations. The festival will also be used to show off that Selebi- Phikwe is not a mining town with propensity to die out any time.
The cultural festival will be used as a forum for intercultural exchange as there will be stalls where tribes will be presenting their cultural way of lives. It will also be a forum to promote and sensitise people on the religions and traditions of Botswana through Tswana dance styles such as tsutsube, setapa and phathise. There will also be poetry, comedy and improvised trivia like setinkana. A variety of sumptuous Setswana food will also be served.
Group representative Poloko Moloise said that a cultural festival they attended in the USA inspired them to organise one in their region.
“We went to America for a cultural festival called Midfeast in 2010, where we benchmarked. We then decided to start a cultural festival here,” he said.
Moloise also told Mmegi that as the youth of Selebi- Phikwe they are also concerned about how the youth has decided to ignore culture and be interested in exotic culture.
“The cultural festival will help youth to shift their interest from modern entertainment to cultural one, as we have realised that most of the festivals they attend they mostly indulge in alcohol abuse and immoral acts, ending up tarnishing the town’s name,” he said.
Moloise added that they intend to host the festival annually and involve other countries.
“We want this event to be hosted annually and our intention is to invite other countries for cultural exchange,” he said.
He also urged the community to help them make the festival a success as they are faced with financial problems.
“The group is made of unemployed youth, I plead with the community to help us make the event a success,” he said.
The two days event will be divided into two categories being cultural dinner and cultural entertainment. The dinner, which will be on the 28th, will be used to educate the community about culture and background information of Selebi- Phikwe and the way forward of the town hence the theme, ‘Phikwe go ya pele’. The second day will be a cultural entertainment where there will be craft and food stalls, and stages, which will showcase different performances. The ticket prices ranges from P50 to P4,000, which will be a corporate ticket, which includes a meal and t-shirts. The VIP ticket costs P250.
Meanwhile, the group will also organise a culture tour, where visitors and community members will introduced to cultural sites surrounding Selebi – Phikwe.