Francistown Jazz pledges 25% to charity

Koketso Kgoboge | Tuesday March 14, 2017 15:22

The festival brought by Streethorn music promotions will be held at the Francistown old stadium on April 8. The first ever Jazz festival of its magnitude to be held in the second city boost of a robust line up sure to enthrall the jazz lovers.

The festival will be headlined by South African jazz legends Jonas Gwangwa and Ringo Madlingozi. It also features the crème de la crème of local jazz artists in Sereetsi and the Natives, Shanti Lo, Lister Boleseng and Amantle Brown amongst others.

When addressing a press conference recently, the managing director of Streethorn music promotions Soares Katumbela revealed that the festival would be premiering a first of its three years in the country’s second city.

“We have entered in a three-year partnership with the city council and the festival will be held here annually for the next three years and beyond.”

“This is a festival for the Francistowners and we want them to own it hence we have roped in a local group, Bana Bana Bantongwa to serve us with some rich culture performances they are known for.

“We will also donate 25 % of the profit from the festival to the mayoral charity fund for our corporate social responsibility,” he said.

Gates will be opened at 11am. The jazz festival kicks off with a ‘kid’s corner’ where a children’s playground will be availed from 11am to 6pm. The DJ’s will kick start the lineup and live performances are scheduled to resume at 4pm until midnight.

Katumbela also stressed that security at the facility will be second to none. He said they would take extreme measures to ensuring the festival is as incident free as possible.

“Safety is always a concern at any large gatherings and we have a dense security force that will also be complimented by Botswana Police Service inside and around the perimeter of the venue.”

A representative of Bana Bana Bantongwa, Daniel Diamond said they are humbled by an opportunity to perform alongside artist such as Gwangwa and Madlingozi.

“It’s a huge achievement for us to share a stage with huge artists like these, and it’s upon us to leave a mark so they invite us to their country someday. We promise to outdo ourselves,” Diamond said.