The fi rst ever Gaborone Spring Festivalkicked off this past weekend at the LionsPark with a to-die-for line-up of local andSouth African acts.Dr Malinga brought his kick and colour-blocking game to the amusement ofthe crowd despite the chilly winter night.Dj Zinhle, Donald, Durban heavy weightBig Nuz, as well as the ‘Motswakoriginator’Khuli Chana, made a truly memorableshow.Despite the great performances, the showlacked momentum throughout due to thelow turn out. The organiser of the event,Mbulelo Qodashe attributed this to obviouschallenges faced when starting somethingnew.
“We had a lot of hiccups puttingthe show together. But now we have learnthow to make it better next time and it willdefi nitely be bigger than this one,” he said.Another down side of the show was theratio of local artists to South African acts,of which the scale was tipped to the SAacts’ favour. The local line-up includedamongst others Scar, Juju Boy and Vee,compared to a large number of SA Acts.One of the revelers who only introducedherself as Keamogetswe was happy to attenda fest with such a great line-up but expresseddisappointment at the few numberof local acts.
“It is great that we have allthese amazing artists on one stage, but howare our artists going to grow to the levelof success that the SA artists enjoy if wedo not even give them a platform here athome? she said.Another reveler, Lucas was also not impressedparticularly with the naming of theshow, saying that, “The show is named afterour city but the line-up doesn’t show forit. It is disgruntling to us local music fansand I’m sure artists feel that way as well,”he said.However, Mbulelo said that the aim is togive local acts a platform in the long run,which he said is what inspired the GaboroneSpring Festival initiative. “We hope tounearth undiscovered talent with this festival.Someone has to give them a chance,”he added.