Xere Cultural Festival is a Sesarwa cultural event organised by Basarwa living in Xere village. The event will be hosted at Xere village located between Rakops and Letlhakane between September 15-16, 2023.
When addressing the media on Tuesday, Rapula Smith from Black Smith Communications, said the two-day festival would be the first of its kind. He added that the event is filled with many activities that would blow adventure fanatics away.
“Those who arrive first will get an opportunity to chase the golden sunset at a sundowner picnic on Friday at the pans. We have large pans where people can enjoy the view and the sunset. The next day at 5am, there will be game drives to the park. Our game drives will be full on experience, therefore there will be picnics at the park, which is ideal for adventurous people. We also have wild animals tracking with our experienced trackers who will track animals on foot and it is a limited experience,” Smith said.
He added that there would also be quad bike rides into the wilderness and cultural exhibitions where revellers would get a chance to learn more about Sesarwa culture. Furthermore, Smith said attendees would get an opportunity to learn beading from talented Basarwa women, from breaking an eggshell to cutting and making beads with it.
He explained that people would also have a chance to consult with Mosarwa native doctor. Kegopilwe also said they created settlements where people would learn Sesarwa culture and lifestyle including eating traditional foods and game meats where game meat was limited experience. Other limited experience includes drinking Sesarwa traditional alcohol.
He also said there would be Sesarwa song and dance at night where only Xere community members will participate. At the song and dance night, he said there would be urban music festival where local artistes in the likes of Dr Vom, Sereetsi and the Natives will be performing. There would also be traditional song and dance groups from Old Xade, Kedia and Kaudwane. “I urge people to pre-book online if they want to enjoy our limited experience activities. Tickets are sold at P100 without activities such as game drives and others but they can have Sesarwa drinks and game meat for free. The other ticket is P450 inclusive of Xere Cultural Festival branded t-shirt. Our accommodation packages ranges between P5,500 and P8,500. They include luxurious tents. Tickets are available at Webtickets, stalls at Letlhakane and Rakops,” he said.
Kgosi of Xere, Molaodi Moipolai, urged the public to come in numbers to experience the Sesarwa culture as well as support the youth of his village who are mostly unemployment due to lack of developments in his village. He explained that because of high unemployment at Xere, young people were abusing alcohol and drugs therefore leading to many teenage pregnancies. Nkhumisang Lesheto, who is the reigning Face of Xere, said many young people and disabled youth would benefit from the event.
She said six youth groups from her village and three people living with disabilities would benefit from the event’s proceedings. She said for those who could not afford to pay for accommodation, could bring their tents. She urged the public to support them in large numbers.
