Monthly Archives: June 2014
Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival 2014
June is youth month commemorating the brave youth of 1976 and everyone around the country celebrates in different ways . On the weekend leading up to 16 June there were a lot of festivities taking place around the country celebrating Youth day. Most were seen wearing their school uniforms hitting clubs, social gatherings, and festivals.
One event that I got to attend was the Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival that was held in Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg. A venue that I thought was befitting of what freedom stands for.Constitutional Hill or Con Hill as it is famously known embodies so much history of our nation. On Saturday the 14th of June I managed to catch the last of the festival and on my arrival The Brother Moves On was performing as people started to flock in. I always say that where there is fashion there is music so it was not surprising to know that there was a clothing and food market at the festival. I bought myself a nice vintage clutch bag from the Ivintage Yakho stall, it shows how much of an impulse shopper I am.
Going back to the main stage I found a group of talented youngsters who go by the name “Undivided Roots” performing and they had summoned the attention of the crowd with their great reggae music. “Judgement” the lead guitarist KILLED IT on stage, he had people stand up and run closer to the stage to catch a glimpse of him and of course film him. I am not sure how old he is but I am guessing that he is not a day over 12. He was the highlight of my day, not taking away anything from the other band members. I love that they are well rounded, they are each good on the vocals as well as excellent in playing their different instruments.
In all the events I have attended I have never seen an artist leave the stage to go dance with the audience. It was something new to me when Moonchild danced with the audience and showed us how to dance like a girl. I thought I always dance like a girl but noooo… she schooled me proper , even had my male friend dancing like a girl. I finally found out what the fuss around Desmond and the Tutus was about. They are electrifying and I really did enjoy myself. I couldn’t have found a better way to continue my birthday celebration. It is always inspiring to see the youth initiating and engaging in positive projects.
Roaming the streets of Durban
7 June marked my 23 years of existence in this world, so to celebrate I took to Durban to spend the weekend exploring with my friends. 2014 is a year of a lot of first times for me so it was really exciting for me to be in Durban for the first time. We spent the whole day roaming around Durban central, being shown some nice things.
During the tour I came across two separate female dance groups dancing for the crowds that were eagerly watching on. These girls were between 11-16 years old and from what I understand they were fundraising. It was fun watching them and it was funnier when they approached the members of the audience and danced for them (or rather challenged them). The idea is that when one of the girls places a headband on your head, she will then dance for you, you will then have to tip her.
Some audience members took on their heels as they saw the girls approaching because they did not want the attention of being singled out. It was really fun. Then came on a comedian who was like a pregnant woman, he was hilarious though.
We saw a group of vintage loving people who were dressed to the T and they looked great , they reminded me of Braamfontein during the weekend. Even though they were shy we managed to convince them to take a picture
Shot by: Vuyiso Tshabalala
Sandy Nene
Mosa Storm
MTN BushFire Festival 2014
So after many years of planning to attend the BushFire Festival in Swaziland and somehow getting my plans cancelled last minute, I was finally afforded the chance to not only attend the BushFire Festival but to explore the beautifully breathtaking Kingdom of Swaziland by the Swaziland Tourism.
The first day of the BushFire saw a number of people flock through Swaziland and causing major congestion at the border. Despite the long lines, there was a pleasant atmosphere with everyone anticipating a great fun filled musical weekend. On our eventual arrival at the BushFire , Qibho and Sands were performing and they were a welcome sound to my ears. The variety of the music genres made the festival so much fun ,for me at least because it was a new experience. The much awaited performance by Muzart was amazing, these youngster never disappoint. They had the crowd doing the soul train and the guitarist showed off his skills by playing the guitar with his mouth.
Other performers included the likes of Spoek Mathambo, Fuel Fandango, DJ Muscle. Bongo Maffin, Bholoja, LA-33, Uhuru, Pelepele, DJ Lolo, Normadic Wax Collective, Sigauque Project , Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Oliver Mtukudzi just to mention a few. The festival attendees looked good in their different clothing and it was a refreshing sight to see different cultures represented. For shopaholics like me ,there was a market where you could get everything from bags, clothes,necklaces and crafts. Condoms were distributed all round the festival in a bid to promote safer sex for festival goes because we all know how things can get out of hand .After all prevention is better than cure.
Children who tagged along with their parents seemed to be having so much fun in partaking in the different activities at the KidZone. The recently introduced interactive art and dialogue space called the Barn had some really interesting dialogues going on. When I got there there was a lady talking about how she left overseas for married life in Swaziland and she went on to discuss the different initiatives that there are working on.
The campsites looked beautiful like a small village somewhere . I met a lady sitting at the corner of the road at the campsite charging her phone. As someone who likes to have her phone with, I could understand the need for her to sit and the corner and guard her phone while it charges. So the charging spot worked on a first-come-first-serve basis. I ran into a couple of friends at the festival and we had so much fun waiting for Saturday night’s most talked about performances. Bongo Maffin and Uhuru had the crowd dancing and singing along to their songs, even when they had finished performing the crowd still wanted more.
The highlight of my Saturday night was when LA-33 came on stage. I heard never heard of them prior to the BushFire Festival but after that night they have topped my favourite musician list. Their performance had me dancing salsa( even if I don’t know how to) and planning a trip to Colombia. I cannot wait to see what BushFire Festival 2015 is going to be like I think I have found a new ritual, I might just try camping because the people at the camping site looked like a close community. Much respect to the production team. It really was an amazing weekend.
2ManySiblings The Creative Duo
Papa Petit and Velma
2manysiblings is a duo composition of brother & sister ,Velma Rossa and Papa Petit who are style and art enthusiasts from East Africa, Kenya. I caught up with them to discuss a few things, so get to know them better below.
What or who is 2manysiblings?
Velma Rossa: 2manysiblings is a creative duo. Consisting of my brother and I, Papa Petit, respectively. We are art, photography, fashion and style enthusiasts. Our aim is to incorporate all these elements in the images we produce.
Velma
How did the name 2manysiblings come about?
Papa Petit: The name 2MS basically came out of word play and our life’s experiences as we grew up. As kids we were inseparable we almost did everything together. We specifically enjoyed dressing up for Sunday service as it gave us a chance to wear our best outfits. So we knew we had to use our bond when coming up with the name.Initially we thought of 2siblings but we ended up adding “many” to give it a cool word play twist , people loved the name and it stuck.
What is your personal style?
