Johannesburg is a favourite for many middle class Batswana as a fashion shopping destination. From the 29th of October the city will kick of a festival dedicated only to shopping. The 3 day event will feature the biggest shopping spots in Joburg such as Sandton City and Oriental Plaza a frequent for Batswana, of which both combined house over 500 retail stores, one of the best shopping experiences in Africa. Participating stores will have special discounts to shoppers. The extravagant shopping experience is not only targeted at South Africans but is looking to attract shoppers from SA’s neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia and as far as Angola, who Gauteng Tourism organization has identified as one of the city’s biggest shopping market.
The idea behind the Shopping Festival is to have it as an addition to the Gauteng lifestyle events calendar. Gauteng Tourism Communications Manager, Barba Gaoganediwe explains it is because shopping is part of the urban lifestyle offering and a major draw card for Joburg and Gauteng in particular. “We receive both domestic and regional visitors whose sole reason to travel to our destination is to look for inspiration, check on the latest fashion and lifestyle trends, and shop for both personal and retail resale usage. The Joburg Shopping Festival is therefore our response to this need especially from nearby provinces and our South African Development Community (SADC) region,” he said
Happening during the same weekend is the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Africa, showcasing summer/spring of Africa’s best designers from across the continent.