The Bush Train fiesta was initially supposed to be held on December 14, 2019 but four days before the event, a north bound Botswana Railways Passenger Train derailed near Palla Road on the morning of December 10, 2019.
Before the tragedy, the organisers had planned that the festival goers would board the train in Gaborone and party all the way to Lobatse.
After reaching the destination, which was the Crescent School in ‘Bandleng’, the plan was to alight from the train, walk across the station and dive into an assortment of activities for the festival.
This train fiesta was supposed to awaken the usually quiet Lobatse Township and make it abuzz during the festive season. The organisers revealed that the Bush Train concept has a great potential to not only improve the economy of Lobatse but to also provide the much needed heritage education from the ‘Mother City’ of Botswana.
In an interview with Arts & Culture on Wednesday, one of the event organisers, Andrie Mokopakgosi revealed that the upcoming Party on Wheels is a special event to appreciate their patrons after the unfortunate events the 2019 train derailment. He said the event is an epic concert, which will bring a different feel in the entertainment circles. Mokopakgosi also disclosed that they will have a party bus from South Africa to kick off the festivities before patrons arrive at the destination which is Tashy’s Royal Gardens.
He said the party bus has a DJ booth and plenty of space on the dance floor for revellers to boogie their way down the road. Mokopakgosi said the party bus has an open top, awesome sound and a bench where people could enjoy luxury seating. However, he was quick to clarify that alcoholic beverage will not be available on the bus because the law does not permit it.
He said people will get to enjoy their alcohol when they arrive at the venue of the event. Mokopakgosi said on the day there will be a picnic kind of set-up followed by a fully-fledged music festival headlined by local acts among others Khoisan, Zeus, MMP Family and many others. He pointed out that the Party Bus leaves from Notwane Grounds starting at 10am taking patrons to the main festival at Tashy's Royal Gardens.
Mokopakgosi will take people back home later. Party Bus tickets costs P300 while general festival tickets are sold at P200 each at Webtickets and Spar outlets in Botswana.
