31 Mar 2025

The inaugural Jwaneng Kiddies Festival and Family Picnic has received accolades from residents and small business owners.

Held at Ko Shekeng Shisanyama on Saturday, the event provided a family set up entertainment while at the same time resuscitating the local economy. One of the revelers, Onneetse Molebatsi said the initiative was a welcome development to create an interactive platform and entertainment for the whole family. She said though headlined by children’s activities and games, the event also provided a refreshing environment for adults away from their busy work schedules.

“This event is very important because it keeps our kids busy and also for us to come and interact since we stay indoors most of the time. We also have the opportunity to interact and know each other outside the work environment, so it must be an annual event,” she said.

However, she said the high turn-up called for a more open space to accommodate all the activities.

Entrepreneur, Bridget Bok of Shade Up, said she appreciated the opportunity to showcase her business to the community. She said though based in Gaborone, they saw the Jwaneng Kiddies Festival and Family Picnic as an opportunity to reach out to the wider market for their eye wear.

“It was such a fun and entertaining event, we had so much exposure and received a lot of customers in one day, so business was good today,” she said.

Organiser and host Michael Sekaba, popularly known as Uncle Dipopae, expressed his delight about the turn-up, describing the event as the first of many kiddies festivals to be preceded by a countrywide tour to places such as Tsabong, Ghanzi, Palapye, Maun, Moshupa, Kasane and Orapa, among others.

However, he noted that since it was the first event in Jwaneng, he did not anticipate the overwhelming response to overcrowd the space. Subsequently, he said they would look for a bigger and more open venue in their next event and also improve on its overall organisation. ENDS