Chedza Mmolawa
The Gaborone International Music and Culture (GIMC) week extravaganza ended this past Saturday with a bang even though this year the festival attracted a fairly smaller crowd compared to the 2017 event which was marred by violence that led to the death of one attendee. Nonetheless, revelers enjoyed a more secure event where one did not have to look over their shoulder for unscrupulous shenanigans. Patrons held the fort down until the very last performer at around 5 a.m. despite the unbearably cold weather.
The week-long event ended on a great note with local artists impressing the crowd with their upbeat selection. The crowd were left in stitches during Robbie Rob and Brando’s performance and from the very first performer until the last one, one could not help but dance to the great array of music. When South African artist Sjava took to the stage, he lit the whole stadium aflame with fans losing it and some even disrobed, oblivious to the frigid weather. Master KG also made a stellar impression with a performance worthy of mention.
Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) was one of the biggest sponsors of the event at a whooping P500, 000. The company’s corporate communications manager, Masegonyana Madisa expressed his absolute delight at the crowd. “We were a bit worried by the weather when the show started as we thought it would affect the turnout of the show. As you know it was freezing cold. But we as the sponsors are very pleased. It could not have been any better,” he said.
The crowd expected a little more from South African choreographer and entertainer, Somizi Mlhongo who was hired to be the biggest attraction and MC of the night. Regrettably, he was only on stage for a few minutes and did not bring his “A” game. Needless to say, Sadie Dikgaka of Flava Dome held it down without missing a beat.
The event organizer, Thapelo ‘Fish’ Pabalinga said he could not be happier with this year’s event. He said there was a point he had reservations about keeping the festival at the stadium as part of the music and culture week extravaganza when he reflected on what happened at last year’s show.
“I was very impressed by the fact that people graced the event in such large numbers even though no cooler boxes were allowed . I would also like to applaud the security companies we engaged. Companies like G4S and Security Systems really made the show the success that it is today. This year we recorded zero disturbances. Not one complaint. I have realized that hiring bouncers to manage events is the reason why we have security issues at events because bouncers often sell tickets to shoddy people behind our back,” he said.