By Khahliso Khama
MASERU — It’s that time of the year again when South Africa celebrates one of its prominent arts extravaganzas, the Mangaung African Cultural Festival, best known simply as Macufe.
And, as the 10-day gala in Bloemfontein kicks off tomorrow, the Macufe Youth Festival Road Show comes to Maseru this weekend.
The road show, set for The Joint on Saturday, will be presented by Houz Estallido, a promotions company running this year’s Macufe.
DJ Hally, co-ordinator of the local promotional event, said the organisers of Macufe were aware that a lot of Basotho have over the years supported the festival.
The road show, scheduled to start at 1800hrs, will see Free State-based DJs like Glensta, Cindo, Bond, Stone and Ruby Redd on the decks alongside Hally.
“The organisers saw it necessary to stop over in Lesotho to celebrate with Basotho the events of Macufe while inviting them to the celebrations that start in Bloemfontein from Friday,” Hally told the Weekender.
Meanwhile the real show in Bloemfontein is said to be bigger and better this year.
International stars Jonathan Butler, Salif Keita, Gerald Albright and Puff Johnson are billed to perform at Macufe alongside a “full house” of local artists and DJs.
The event will see a wide spectrum of arts ranging from music, drama, comedy, poetry, fine arts to traditional arts and crafts.
Macufe was launched in 1997 and has since grown into one of South Africa’s biggest arts cultural festivals.