February 2009
11 March 2009
The marula rich province of Limpopo was once again the proud host of the
successful annual Marula festival now in its fourth year of existence. The
festival took place at the declared permanent venue of Phalaborwa, which is
well known to be the cleanest town in the province at Impala Park, rugby
stadium from 26 February to 28 February 2008.
The intention was to symbolically mark the first festival of the first
fruits, market and promote the different Marula products through the different
participating small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and co-operatives as
well as celebrate the wealthy and diverse heritage of the inhabitants of the
province with the promise of a significant growth in the tourism sector.
The 8 000 litres of marula brew, which were prepared by squeezing the juice
traditionally and then left to ferment, was presented to the public and
tourists and was the main attraction of the festival. To promote
commercialisation and cater for the various tastes, there were different types
of marula brew such as the sweet brew, medium fermented as well as the strong
brew variant provided by different brewers from districts.
The exhibition stalls helped in raising awareness not only on the different
marula brews but also on the different marula products available such as marula
jam, marula shampoo, marula atchar, etc. Many SMMEs and co-operatives from
Limpopo, neighbouring provinces such as Mpumalanga and North West and some from
the neighbouring Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries such
as Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe came to participate and exchange knowledge at
the festival.
MEC Chabane cut the ribbon to officially declare the festival open on the
first day, and toured the different exhibition stalls with the Mayor of
Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality, Councillor Gloria Valoyi as well as Head of
Department. The second day of the festival began with the marula festival half
marathon, which appealed to the young and old as well as professional athletes
and was the launch pad of the Phalaborwa Local Runners Club, Limpopo athletics
and Road Runners Association. The winners of the different categories took home
prizes for their efforts and participation. Also taking place at the same time
at Hans Merinski Hotel and Hlolwa Lodge was the golf challenge and the newly
launched 4X4 challenge respectively.
The two day golf challenge which was sponsored by Distel, the company
responsible for the production of Amarula cream, attracted more than 200
golfers all of them ranging from professional handicapped players, provincial
development players and youth development players. After the golf challenge
prize giving ceremony, it was time for the open air music concert back at the
Impala Park rugby stadium where close to 15 000 people enjoyed the sounds of
the likes of Thomas Chauke and Xinyori sisters, Jay Hlungwani. The festival was
supported by a variety of media such as Munghana Lonene FM, Jacaranda FM,
several regional, provincial and national newspapers.
At a media briefing on the last day of the festival prior to the open air
concert, MEC Chabane explained that the department only spent R1.3 million due
to the increased number of sponsors involved and added that âWith the continued
help of sponsors, we will be spending less every year.â The MEC also continued
by saying that the Marula festival must reach a point where it will be as big
as other well known international festivals from around the world and that
there is now a need to integrate the festival with projects leading up to the
2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.
The Ba-Phalaborwa municipality continues to reap the benefits of being the
hosts of the Marula festival through the tourism sector. The Mayor of
Ba-Phalaborwa municipality added that the municipality has benefited immensely
since the festival's inception through accommodation and arts and crafts. She
said that the festival was not only for increasing the tourism growth of the
municipality but was also a way of preserving our cultural heritage.
Issued by: Department of Social Development, Environment and Tourism,
Limpopo Provincial Government
11 March 2009
Source: Department of Social Development, Environment and Tourism, Limpopo
Provincial Government (http://www.ledet.gov.za)
