Luju Festival Unites Southern Africa in Style!
14 August 2024
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival 2024 welcomed a fashionable audience of over 10,000 food buffs and music lovers at the biggest edition of the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle to date for two days of delicious food, future-forward fashion and Afrocentric music at House On Fire in Malkerns.
Festivalgoers from 23 countries across the Southern African region (Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbawe, Namibia, Zambia) and from as far as the Falklands, Oman, Türkiye and Canada, as well as Europe and the USA, indulged in the signature serving of #EatSwayLove at this sophisticated, wholesome and delicious family-friendly festival.
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival thanks all the festivalgoers, partners and sponsors, especially Standard Bank Eswatini, Mastercard, Stella Artois, Rhodes Food Group, World Veg, Coca-Cola, Unifoods, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as the many others involved in making this year’s festival another outstanding success.
Traders Generate Half a Million More in Revenue
Standard Bank Eswatini and House On Fire are pleased to have once again supported small & medium enterprises (SMEs) with the opportunity to trade at the festival. This year saw participation from 91 vendors, 90 per cent from Eswatini, and the others from South Africa, Lesotho, Zambia and Mozambique. Traders generated over E2.5 million in sales, a laudable increase from the E2 million recorded in 2023.
Culinary
The much-expanded culinary programme, built around the theme ‘Roots’, featured a number of exciting masterclasses and demonstrations on the festival’s Mastercard stage. Celebrity chef, Lorna Maseko delivered an innovative and engaging cooking demonstration supported by Unifoods. Festivalgoers had plenty of moments to toast to with the Beer Brewing Masterclass facilitated by The Beermistress, Lucy Corne, and a Wine Masterclass and Blind Tasting supported by KWV wines and hosted by celebrated Sommelier, Saskia Lesch. Vusi Kunene, known as The Tattooed Chef, presented an insightful sushi demonstration.
The much-anticipated Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off competition was won by Chef Deowza, narrowly beating Nomahlubi Dlamini-Gumede for the coveted title of Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off Master Chef 2024! Supported since 2019 by Pick n Pay Eswatini, the competition is aimed at developing local culinary entrepreneurs through prizes which facilitate personal and business growth. Standard Bank Unayo, World Veg, Emlembe and Mongi Botanical also supported the culinary hives and activities.
Fashion
Festivalgoers once again put their best foot forward with their stylish outfits, further asserting the festival as a leading fashion event. The Mastercard Luju Fashion Show was a showstopper with showcases of high-end fashion collections by six of Eswatini’s most talented designers. The Fashion Show also comprised designers and accessory brands from Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa. The fashion show was put on by a team of 76 designers, stylists, assistants, models and artists. The designs aligned with this year’s fashion theme ‘African Futurism’, incorporating heritage notes in innovative ways for a very contemporary look.
The Luju fashion show, hives and activities were supported by a range of sponsors, namely Standard Bank Unayo, Mastercard, Dala Spaces, Perfect Choice, Kulture Xchange, Black Crown, Lush Hair, Cork & Co, and Happy Valley.
Music
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival 2024 line-up showcased 47 unique acts, 30 of them from Eswatini, with a variety of genres and creative forms of expression.A total of 177 performers from Eswatini, South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe entertained the crowds on the Luju Main Stage, Mastercard Stage, Buzz Stage and the Stella Artois Beer Garden Stage.Festivalgoers were treated to an enchanting performance by South Africa’s Simphiwe Dana, the uplifting musical ensemble, Sisonkhe Kollectiv from Eswatini and the legendary voice of Mozambique Marabenta genre, Wazimbo.
Other memorable performances included South Africa’s Sjava, Majozi and Kelvin Momo, as well as Eswatini’s Young Zesh, fondly known as 'Intwan'encane', whose authentic Swati storytelling spoke to the heart.Zimbabwe’s Loius Mhlanga, South Africa’s Black Heidi, and the ever-popular South African group The Soil were just some of the outstanding performances that wowed the audience, while Eswatini’s DJ Mbo held nothing back as he had the crowd moving.
Beehive‘Luju’ means ‘honey’ in SiSwati, and there was no sweeter spot than the children’s Beehive which was abuzz with an expanded programme of entertainment and creatively stimulating activities. This is where the Luju Junior Master Chef Cook-Off was held, with first place being won by 10-year-old Sakhiwe who prepared a tasty granola breakfast dish. He was closely followed by 6-year-old Kenzo’s peach smoothie, while Siviwe and Sibuyelwe’s fruit salad won them third place. The Luju Beehive was sponsored by Rhodes Food Group and supported by Sunny and Emlembe
.Food and Fashion Indaba
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival’s mandate of developing the creative economy, promoting sustainability and supporting small-business growth was expressed in the inaugural Food Indaba and Fashion Indaba. This dynamic two-day programme of capacity development workshops, insightful panel discussions, masterclasses and knowledge sharing with food and fashion experts from Eswatini and across the Southern African region took place on the 2 days preceding the festival.
The Food Indaba was sponsored by Standard Bank, Mastercard, Stella Artois, Rhodes Food Group, Unifoods, Pick n Pay Eswatini, KWV and Mongi Botanical.The Fashion Indaba was sponsored by Standard Bank, Mastercard, Kulture Xchange, Zyle Clothing and Dala Spaces.
Social Media and Website
BEE sure to keep up with the LUJU BUZZ on social media: Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival on Facebook and YouTube, on Instagram and on Twitter. All festival information can be found on WEBSITE
