28 Aug 2023

An all-night battle of choirs dubbed, Lobolaela Festival, was held at Goora-Montshiwa grounds over the weekend.

The festival, which featured five traditional choirs (dikhwaere), aimed to preserve and revive the Bangwaketse folklore music.

In an interview on the sidelines of the festival, event organiser and  Lobolaela Promotions director, Boemo Morekwa said the festival was initiated with the aim to ‘revive and nurture choirs so we can preserve the Bangwaketse cultural music that has died out over the past years’.

“We have seen a need to step up and bring about lifelong influence on the growth of Bangwaketse traditional choirs and enable them to have sense of belonging in the entertainment industry through providing a platform where they can be appreciated,” he said.

He emphasised the need to preserve traditional choirs so as to be enjoyed by future generations.

“As Lobolaela Promotions, we stand committed to ensuring sustenance of such unique natural and cultural resource,” he said.

He noted that through the event, they hoped to improve diversity and prosperity by bringing to life talent as well as rich history.

“Our plan is to bring about lifelong influence on the growth of Bangwaketse traditional choirs and enable them to have some sense of belonging in the entertainment industry,” he said.

Morekwa further said the all-night battle of choirs demonstrated the need to go back to the roots and have traditional choirs as a fundamental basis of entertainment.

“We have invited other groups from places outside Kanye District, with the view to not only to entertain audiences, but also appreciate our cultural diversities.

We hope that through this experience, choir fanatics will get to appreciate such differences as there will also be some musical experience that is bound to inspire new forms of artistic expression amongst choirs,” he said.

Again, he said their ambition was to position themselves and revive rich culture that the tribe was known for and at the same time exploring possible ways of enhancing the village economic growth

“Traditional choirs have diminished over the past decades, creating a vacuum in preserving cultural music and skills development of singers, as there is no platform for showcasing such talent. We pride ourselves that through these festival, our efforts in preserving the culture and according our people an opportunity to share the rich Bangwaketse culture with the rest of the world will go miles,” he added.

He also said they planned to go around the country and engage with different tribes to continue to inspire and motivate choirs and offer them an opportunity to fully develop their potential and to gain exposure.

The five participating choirs included Ikageng from Mokgomane, Okanyatsa from Gasita, Tshunami from Gasegwagwa, Mokwepa from Molepolole and Lesedi from Gabane. 

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