In Botswana, the festive season is characterised by outdoor activities because that time of the year is summer. In some parts of the country, members of the community may form sporting teams, notably football teams that compete against each other for a selected prize. The end of the games is normally marked with picnics where people come together to feast.
In certain parts of the country, however, the festive season, in particular Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, competition performances of live choral music and dancing, coupled with feasting by the performer groups, are featured. A group that performs the live music is known as khwaere (pl: dikhwaere). The word khwaere is a loanword adopted into the Setswana Language and derives from the English word 'choir'. However, dikhwaere is not just a term that refers to the singing and dancing ensemble but a generic term that refers to both the ensemble and the repertoire of songs that are performed during the celebrations. Synonyms for dikhwaere are medikano and dikopelo, although medikano also refers to evening entertainment of song and dance that young girls and boys engage in after completing the day's chores. The girls may perform separately from the boys or both boys and girls could get together in mixed group performances. The word dikopelo, on the other hand, translates to 'singing sessions.' Venues for dikhwaere are traditionally at the lands (the farmstead areas) because summer is also the ploughing season in Botswana, and that is where many people would be at that time.
