28 Feb 2019

Baba Ba Mmala Trust (BBMT) have confirmed the return of the long anticipated Son of the Soil (SOTS) festival, which is set to take place on Saturday at Serokolwane lawns, north of Gaborone along the A1 road, having taken a breather last year. Speaking in an interview, BBMT media liaison officer Kabelo Semele said this year theme was: Kwa re go yang – Re Ipela, and they believe that it was a true reflection of a celebration of the uniqueness of the country’s spirituality, the vitality and resilience of our spirit, culture and values.

He noted that this would be the 13th installment of the festival having started in January 2005 in Tlokweng. Semele said BBMT was a trust established by a group of Batswana to promote and preserve culture.

“BBMT annually presents a memorable event encompassing ethnic local cuisine, cultural activities, games, dance, song, crafts and poetry to celebrate our culture and our sense of pride as Batswana,” he said. He further said patrons could expect a diverse line-up of talented musicians, poets, dancers, choral competitions, games and more.

As it is custom with SOTS to host workshops before the main event, Semele said BBMT brought together members of the community in the form of a workshop recently at the National Museum, and that patrons could look forward to a Metswaisong event which would entail story telling around the fire and indulging in lots of meat.

“The event has grown in leaps and bounds, and it is with great excitement that this year we bring an event that is not only appealing to Batswana, but also wish to acquaint the whole region with our rich culture,” said Semele. He said SOTS was an all-inclusive event suitable for the whole family, and as a result, it would bring a fusion of activities and entertainment from as early as 7am until late. The objectives of BBMT are to continuously find innovative ways of engaging the youth and community around issues of culture in a bid to preserve and learn about our culture. It is also to present researched facts about the people of Botswana and their culture in a format that would appeal to the youth and Batswana as well as to foster a sense of national pride and cultural identity.

SOTS is an event that encourages all attending to participate in the day’s activities and be part of an exciting cultural re-awakening. Organisers of SOTS have indicated that BBMT was not for profit, and that all proceeds from the activities, including SOTS cultural festival were used for cultural research.

BBMT have funded research and packaging of Botswana culture into eatable chunks. Some of the research they have funded was the documenting of Setswana games, the documentation of old Setswana poetry, the packaging of tribal histories into three (3) paragraph versions, the documentation of the Setswana attire and lastly the packaging of Botswana dances. ENDS