By Thabiso Sekhula
If you want to witness the power music has over us, you only have to travel to Swaziland on Bushfire weekend to see how the world travels thousands of kilometres on connecting flight after connecting flight and through packed borders for a one-of-a-kind music event.
The MTN Bushfire Festival hosted its 16th edition at the weekend in Malkerns, Swaziland. The four-day festival is a non-stop arts weekend with multiple stages. DJs, poets, bands, musicians, painters and dancers across all genres performed on the themed stages.
The genius is how the flavours come through the performers who are from different African countries and the world mix into one.
We paid tribute to AKA at the hip hop marquee stage, danced Wakanda with Sho Madjozi on the main stage, sang along with Maleh at the amphitheatre, vibed with DJ V (real name Fillipa Mondlane), the granddaughter of the former Mozambican president Eduardo Mondlane, and we lost our minds when Swaziland’s finest Uncle Karly played an old school kwaito mix on the firefly stage.
The final nail was the Brass Cartel band in the Meisterhaus and their remakes of our favourite songs, band style with the crowd dancing around them.
The formula for the incredible success of this festival is the outright audacity to keep a strong African influence over the food, the clothes, the entertainment and especially the music.
Everyone feels welcome to bring their most authentic and fun selves. As a five-time veteran, it’s been exciting to see it grow from a few thousand to 20,000 people from everywhere in the world.
One of my biggest highlights was having the legendary Nicki B from Kaya FM performing on the main stage and I was impressed to see the sheer powerhouse that is Angola’s Pongo. I pray her song “Bruxos” finds you on an off day spent with friends; you will never forget her.
Bushfire shows us that music can be a powerful tool to boost tourism and the economy. We were charged R100 at the border for the car. R100 for a sim card with 5 GB data and some talk minutes, R1,000 modest amount for merch, a T-Shirt and a cap — plus a book.
We spent R2,500 if not more on food and drinks for the three days, R80 for the bedazzles on my face for a festival look, R100 on charging by the barbershop, haircuts were charged at R150 and R100 for a guy to take down your tent and another R100 for him to carry your bags back to the car.
And that’s just on our budget. I saw people paying for R10,000 designer items and trying every other food stall.
It is conveniently set up to have you spend your salary without a second thought. Regret is for Mondays and saying yes to a Bloody Mary at a friend’s party when you had no idea it was tomatoes and a celery stick.
And if you ever wonder about the power of music, just ask the Swazi government how much money Africa’s biggest music festival makes in accommodation and festival costs when the accommodation nearby is already booked out for the next one happening next year.
Pictured above: Bushfire Festival
Image source: Paul Paunde
