Star studded lineup for the jazz fest
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Jazz music promotion company, Streethorn, owned by artist manager and promoter Soares Katumbela will host the first ever Jazz Festival in Francistown on 8th April at the old stadium.
According to Katumbela the festival will become a permanent feature of the entertainment calendar in the north.
“People living in Francistown always travel to Gaborone to attend other established jazz events. This is a perfect event for Francistown and its surrounding, as it is an economically viable growing city presenting endless commercial possibilities,” he said.
He says the jazz festival will be a daylong celebration of regional and world class music that will captivate mature audience and musicians alike. This high-profile festival is set to be a landmark cultural exchange featuring the crème dela crème of the jazz industry. It will premiere jazz artists who will include Jonas Gwangwa, Ringo Madlingozi, Sereetsi & The Natives, Shanti Lo, Lister Boleseng, It Has To Be Jazz Playground, Amantle Brown, Mshilo, Bana bana ba Ntogwa, DJ Papi, DJ Milton and DJ SK in a beautiful outdoor setting.
Commenting on why the concept was introduced, Katumbela said Botswana lacks great tourist and entertainment attraction activities along the likes of the annual Cape Town Jazz Festival, Standard Bank Jazz Festival and many others. All these festivals, he says, are major international attraction activities in South Africa to which a good number of Batswana travel on an annual basis.
“As a jazz music promotion company, it is our belief that Batswana trek to these activities in large numbers due to lack of good quality entertainment in Botswana, especially the type most appealing to the mature segment of the general public, both internal and external tourists,” he opined.
He also revealed that they will also be engaging Francistown based companies to handle other jobs including transportation, security and accommodation among others.
“Local artists will attend a music workshop facilitated by ‘It Has To Be Jazz Playground’ (a youth jazz quartet based in Gaborone), as a social responsibility act by the artists through the festival. Only the artists in Francistown and surrounding area will be invited to attend the workshop,” he pointed out.
Sponsors of the festival are The Voice, Francistown City Council, Mackstan, Duma FM, Webtickets and Adansonia Hotel.
The ticket for the event will cost P350.00 but there are reasonable packages to cater for everyone. Tickets can be purchased at Streethorn Music Café at Molapo Crossing, The Voice office in Francistown and at all Webtickets outlets i.e. Spar Supermarkets.
January & February standard tickets are at P200.00 and March P250.00, April P300 and at the gate jazz lovers pay P350.00. There are also VIP packages, which are as follows:
VIP package 1, P1 950.00 includes accommodation for 2 people, 2 festival VIP tickets, buffet dinner, VIP parking, welcome drink, cash bar
VIP package 2, P1500.00 similar to VIP 1 but only for 1 person
VIP package 3, P750 no accommodation