Bakgatla celebrate Kgatleng Dikopelo Cultural Festival

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday August 31, 2017 16:10

For years, Bakgatla ba ga Kgafela tribe in Mochudi have been known for their rich traditional choirs known as dikhwaere or dikopelo. Choirs from different wards of Kgatleng made by either by a group of friends, family members or community members would come together during festive seasons and other public holidays where they would challenge other choirs for a prize money. This brought unity amongst the Bakgatla tribe whilst having leisure at the same time.

These festivities brought together both the young and the old together and harmoniously celebrated their culture. As years passed by, other tribes in Botswana adapted to this culture. Dikhwaere have since gained popularity from different parts of the country.

In an interview with Sowbiz BCA secretary general Emmanuel Rampete said 12 choirs from Kgatleng and four from outside Kgatleng will showcase their talents at the festival. He added that the objective of the event was to exchange culture through music and song. He said it will also attract tourism to Kgatleng district.

“The official launch of the Kgatleng Dikopelo Cultural Festival will be held on September 15 at Mochudi Mall. It will be later followed by the elimination of the choirs on September 16 where we will choose 12 choirs that will perform at the main event,” he explained.

Rampete further explained that they currently have 40 choirs, which will be trimmed to 12 local choirs and four choirs outside the village that will perform at the main event. He said the association was formed through the influence of bogosi, the police and molaodi after realising that other districts had natural features like wildlife, forestry, and other cultural activities that attracted tourists whilst they had nothing to celebrate or be proud of.

He pointed out that they then realised that Bakgatla were famous for having the best dikhwaere groups in the country. They then decided to use them to woe tourists from different corners of this country and across the boarders.

“We realised that dikhwaere could attract tourists to come and learn about our culture. That is why we decided to host a dikopelo cultural festival with the hope that it will attract people from different walks of life to come and celebrate them with us.

We also want to empower local people by having goods and services being showcased at the festival such as different governmental departments, BMC, Debswana and others who will be having stalls at the event. 

Rampete added that they were going to start the event by honouring 10 people who made a contribution to dikopelo by cleaning their graves and laying wreaths on a Thursday before the main event.

He pointed out that on Friday of the main event, eight choirs are going to perform till Saturday afternoon and later followed by the official opening.

“Saturday evening till Sunday afternoon the remaining choirs will be entertaining the crowd. Prize giving and official closing will follow later after the last performances. Entrance fee is P10 per person and food will be served only for VIPs,” he ended.