FRANCISTOWN: The ninth edition of the Rotary Winter Night Market Day will be held on July 27, 2019 with over 50 exhibitors having already confirmed their participation.
The event will be held at the Francistown Club under the theme ‘Service above self’. Francistown Rotary Club spokesperson Saadia Rossenkhan told Arts & Culture that they were still expecting more exhibitors to register during the course of the week.
Regarding the Rotary winter night market, Rossenkhan said that with just a few days left before the massive event, enquiries are pouring in at their office and on their Facebook page.
“We are also expecting people from as far as Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe to be part of the event. This initiative was established through the Rotary Club of Francistown, after they realised that there was nothing really going on in winter,” she said.
Rossenkhan highlighted that through the initiative, they wanted to create a limelight for the club whilst at the same time follow their mandate of ‘Community Service Above Self’.
She said that through the winter night market they wanted to create business opportunities for the locals in order for them to gain market access.
Rossenkhan further said that the forum would also offer entrepreneurs a chance to come under one roof and showcase their products, learn from one another as well as to network among themselves. Rossenkhan added that they would also use a part of the gate takings for a fundraising project that would benefit the entire community.
“We are going to fundraise for a project, which will help the police in their quest to fight drug abuse. We will also have the Diamond and Narcotics Squad unit under the police force participating by providing the public with vital information on drug abuse,” she said. Rossekhan revealed that their main sponsors are Francistown Club, Security Services, Electro Motor Force, Botswana Police Service (BPS) to name but a few.
The above-mentioned sponsors would provide a venue free of charge, security guards and dogs respectively to keep the event safer for the attendees. She said that the event has grown tremendously over the years with a large audience from all regions across the country and neighbouring countries.
The outspoken Rossekhan said that the categories for the exhibitors include food, fruits and vegetables, arts and crafts that are all handmade items such as bags, jewellery and clothes. “Some of the stalls accommodate locally manufactured products and services such as cleaning products, oils, shelving, insurance and multimedia,” she said.
To put icing on the cake she said that the attendees would be swept off their feet with live music provided by a local music band during the market night.
