Annual Windhoek Cultural Festival promotes cultural diversity
Different species of people across the continent and overseas all march down in packs to attend Windhoek Annual Cultural Festival (WACF) to celebrate and promote the rich Namibian cultural diversity over the weekend.
The event which began last Wednesday and reaches a climax on Sunday was not just a regular cultural festival. It was about providing a platform to upcoming artistes, local entrepreneurs, innovators, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to exhibit and promote their businesses through culture.
According to the pioneer Sylvester Shapwa, who said the festival was a rare kind attracted over 100 exhibitors and it turned out to be a success.
Speaking on the fest Shapwa said, “WACF is just like any other cultural event but what makes it unique is the fact that we are celebrating Namibian cultural heritage in all kind of forms, either through dressing, how we eat, interacting with other people and also in our ways of living.”
Shapwa was proud to note that Namibians still respect their cultural heritage and they take delight in it despite the influence of western cultures in the country.
“I can see that people are still proud and keen to celebrate culture in a certain way and to be part of this initiative, they are the ones that have contributed towards the success and the uniqueness of our event,” Shapwa said, adding that the event will be celebrated on a yearly basis and they would at a later stage extend it to other towns.
He further said that he has participated in many cultural festivals but there was “one feature of culture” which is yet implemented namely to accommodate, not only Namibians but also tourists that come to attend.”
Besides exhibitors exhibiting their cultural products including clothing, food and other materials, most of the people from different cultural backgrounds were also seen wearing their cultural attires in excitement and some doing their cultural dances to display their different cultural values.
The festival was also full of various activities in which onlookers and customers could also engage and be involved such as Choir competition, the battle of chefs, the battle of Disc Jockeys, a talent show and Miss WACF, which concluded the festival.
