01 Sep 2022

The inaugural Ikalanga International Festival will be held on December 26, in Domboshaba.

Speaking at the launch in Gaborone on Wednesday, festival spokesperson, Paphani Masalila said the event sought to celebrate Kalanga culture in terms of food, music, dance and fashion.

“This event will promote, nurture and preserve our Kalanga culture, however we will extend to other Tswana cultures in future editions,” he explained.

Masalila said the show would have highlights from Lizibo and Ndingo Johwa, whose act was simply termed ‘Battle of Mitanda’, adding, however, that there would be other performances by young and upcoming artistes, who will be unveiled in due time.

He revealed that for every ticket purchased, five per cent would go towards a charity to be identified at a later stage, adding that ticket sales start this month.

He encouraged people to buy tickets in large numbers as they would also be contributing to charity.

The ‘Battle of Mitanda’, as explained by Lizibo, would be a two-bands act on stage simultaneously battling it out.

He said while battles on stage were popular among hip hop performers, where at times the artistes boast and throw insults, “Battle of Mitanda’ would give patrons a clean healthy freestyle performance between two Kalanga generational greats.

“I will be bringing on board some of the artistes I featured in my songs, same thing with Rre Ndingo in his verses and/or songs,” said Lizibo.

Not to compare it to a dunk contest, the ‘Battle of Mitanda’ is sure to showcase experience, inspiration as well as sharing of knowledge between the two music greats.

Johwa or The Great Goat, as he is affectionately called, will be displaying his legendary experience in music, while Lizibo will be giving the old man a taste of millennia vibe.

Seventy-two-year-old, Johwa expressed gratitude to the young generation for finding his works still relevant.

He said he had been invisible for a while because of COVID-19, but ‘I am excited about this collaboration, because the young musicians are here to impart their new ideas to us, as we also impart our experience and skills to them’.

Besides music, he implored the young creatives to explore film and television industries in order to better preserve and document Botswana culture.

“Film is best placed to reflect a true Botswana culture to the world and you need to tap into that as youth,” charged Johwa. There will also be musical workshops prior to and during the event, as mandated by the event organisers. ENDS