Mzansi Golden Economy manifestation at Limpopo Marula Festival
The annual Limpopo Marula Festival will take place in Phalaborwa, Limpopo province on 22 February to 1 March 2014. The week-long festivity is a joint collaboration between Limpopo Provincial Government and the Department of Arts and Culture, the main sponsor. The Department of Arts and Culture supports the festival through its Mzansi Golden Economy strategy which seeks to use the creative industries to create jobs and contribute to economic growth.
Marula Festival is also part of government’s priority of rural development. The festival is very popular and has attracted than 30 000 revelers from most parts of the country including South Africa’s neighbouring countries. The town of Phalaborwa has been chosen the permanent of home of the Festival because of its tourism profile and proximity to other major tourist destinations including the Kruger National Park within the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park which includes Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The festival offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the marula fruit, the brewing process and the exciting part of tasting the marula drink as well as business enterprises showcasing products made from marula. There are many other activities that add extra dimension to the Festival including tourism products and services, two music concerts, arts, crafts and sport. Due to its diverse offerings, the festival is uniquely placed to attract visitors from different backgrounds and thus contribute to the Department of Arts and Culture’s efforts to promote social cohesion and national building.
“The direct and indirect economic benefits created by the Festival make it a perfect fit for our objective of using the arts, culture and heritage to create jobs and grow the economy. The Festival benefits airlines, car rental companies, tour operators, hotels and lodges, restaurants, retailers as well as communities who gather and brew the marula fruit. All of these sectors experience significant rise in the demand for their goods and services during the period of the Festival and we are all excited about it”, said the Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile.
Some of the artists billed for the Festival include DJ Kanyane, DJ Oskido, Uhuru, Professor, DJ Brian, Magubane De’ Franchise, Stimela, Ringo, Joe Shirimani, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Worship House, General Muzka and many others.
Full details of festival are available on www.dac.gov.za or www.golimpopo.com.
Enquiries:
Mack Lewele
Tel: 012 441 3084
Cell: 082 450 5076
Mike Tauatsoala
Tel: 015 293 3600
Cell: 082 886 3294
