Heritage pageant grand finale in September
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday January 24, 2020 15:15
According to the pageant organiser, Pearl Ntshole, they not only want to instil ethnic pride but also confidence. She said that they came up with the beauty pageant after realising that there were Batswana who still believed in such a thing as major and minor ethnic groups in Botswana.
“This has made some youth from (the so-called) ‘minority groups’ have less confidence (in themselves and look shame-faced) about where they come from,” she said.
Ntshole said young people are ashamed of their own language and traditions, thus the idea to form the pageant to fill in the gap of ethnic identity. “We want young people to be proud of (their roots and) who they are,” she said.
She added that as a new pageant, they believed they should take this initiative to other African countries and make the heritage pageantry an international affair.
Ntshole said that this would be the first international pageant to be hosted in Botswana therefore a great advantage to the local tourism industry. Auditions for the pageant will be held in Sedibeng lodge in Gaborone on February 15.
Only 16 to 35 year-olds are eligible to audition. Unlike other beauty pageants there are no restrictions. Anyone with or without a child can compete. There are also no height or weight requirements for the free auditions. Ntshole said there would also be a project launch in March where they will reveal top finalists that will represent their ethnic groups.
She said that Dikgosi and the finalists would lead the project, as they want them to be in the forefront. “Prior to the grand finale we will have a cultural fashion show where our contestants will parade their cultural attires, dances and traditional games,” she said.
Ntshole added that Mr and Miss Culture Heritage is different from other pageants because it is founded in Botswana and has not left the boy-child behind. She said as they groom the girl-child into being a socially responsible citizen they also decided to groom the boy-child.
She said the queen and king will each walk away with P10,000 cash prize. She added that as sponsors come in there will be more exciting prizes.