Gaborone Gearing For 50 To 50
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday September 12, 2016 15:11
According to city mayor, Kagiso Thutlwe, the event would be filled with a variety of activities. The 50 to 50 theme was derived from the fact that the festivities will start 50 hours before the country’s 50 years of Independence.
The 50 hours countdown towards independence will commence on September 23.
“Our events will start with Mr and Miss 50 years Fashion Show at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology on September 17, 2016. The 50 hours festival, which will be different from any other event that has been held in Gaborone, will later follow.
This festival will be one of its kind,” he said.
Thutlwe said the event would not be hosted at the stadium, hall or any other place but it will be held at Old Lobatse road between CID and Bontleng.
On September 25, the last day of the event, Thutlwe said Gaborone will receive the roving torch which would by then have covered almost every; village, town and city of Botswana.
The 50 to 50 City Festival event director, Massie Hule explained that the Old Lobatse road would be closed for the whole 50 hours. He said they would have two big stages.
“We want that event to be memorable. We have called in a number of local artists who will be captivating the audience with fabulous performances for 50 hours. We expect to have 50 artists who will create jobs for their dancers. We will also hire 200 sound personnel and we expect more than 20, 000 people to embrace the event,” he said.
Hule said there would be merchandise stalls selling BOT50 brands and traditional items.
He added that there would also be kiddies Fun Park, where children would have an opportunity to play in jumping castles. On the evening of September 24, there will be fireworks displaying 50 years.
Hule said there will be VIP section for sponsors and other dignitaries and promised that since the event will be a street event, security would be very tight.
Showtime has established that when receiving the roving torch, there would be a flash mob fashion show where models would be parading in Botswana colours.
Gaborone District Commissioner, Grace Seitshiro said the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture gave them a budget of one million pula. She however noted that the money is not enough to meet their needs. She said they had already used some of the money on other activities and their total budget is roughly P1.6 million.
Seitshiro urged the business community and individuals to donate what they can to make the event a success.
She said they have to pay the artists, buy food for the participants, and give Gaborone residents superior quality sound and other things.
She promised that all the companies that will assist in making the event a success, would have an opportunity to sell their companies’ products to the community through branding.