Morija Arts & Cultural Festival
Morija , Lesotho
Selibeng sa Thuto
Greetings! The Morija Arts & Cultural Festival has become Lesotho 's premier annual cultural event since its inception in 1999. It seeks:
• To build a positive, forward-looking and inclusive culture, especially among youth;
• To serve as a showcase for Lesotho 's artists, performers and cultural groups, in all their diversity, while providing exposure to cultural groups from the rest of Africa and the world;
• To promote local artisans and crafts, small business, and the development of tourism; and
• To address major social issues facing the people of Lesotho .
The overall theme for the Morija Festival is ‘ Kaofela re chabana sa khomo ' (Unity in Diversity). The Festival has succeeded over the years because of a range of support from, among others, the Royal Family, the Government of Lesotho, donors, NGOs and churches, the private sector, and the community of Morija. The Festival is a non-profit initiative coordinated by Morija Museum & Archives, with annual audited financial statements from Hlasa & Associates.
The Morija Festival is in Transition
The larger Morija Arts & Cultural Festival has recently been divided (on a permanent basis) into two components so that it can better achieve its objectives, and also to prevent serious overlap with other major events like NUL Graduation and Macufe Bloemfontein, overlaps which have hurt attendance figures since 2004.
The first component will be the Morija Festival Cultural Competitions , a medium-sized event that will be held from 5-6 October 2007 . This is the culmination of area and district competitions for schools across the whole of Lesotho . It will feature competitions for Primary and High Schools, as well as Adults and Community Cultural Groups, in the following areas: traditional dances, instruments, drama and poetry. Children's activities, as well as live music (famo, gospel, hip-hop), crafts, film, food and fashion will be on offer during the day, as well as motivational speaking and educational initiatives, but make note that no night concerts will be staged.
The second component will be the Morija Arts & Cultural Festival , a larger event that will be held over a week but whose three main days will be from 4-6 April 2008 . It will feature workshops for various artistic and performing groups, as well as a range of events and night concerts that are reflective of Lesotho 's broad cultural heritage, as well as many stalls and exhibits.
We trust that each will grow into a self-sustaining event which the nation will be proud of, and which will attract large numbers of visitors – children, youth and adults - from Lesotho , the SADC region and the wider world. Through stronger partnerships with Festival Mundial in Holland and regional festivals in South Africa , the Morija Festival is developing exchange programmes so that artists, artisans, cultural groups and performers from Lesotho have an opportunity to gain greater exposure/markets outside of our borders as well as to promote Lesotho more dynamically as a tourist destination.
Building the Arts, Culture & Tourism
For more information, please contact:
Morija Museum & Archives
Phone/Fax: (+266) 2236-0308 or info@morijafest.com
Website: www.morijafest.com
MORIJ
A FESTIVAL CULTURAL COMPETITIONS
05-06 October 2007
Morija , Lesotho (45km south of Maseru )
For the whole family
FRIDAY, 05 October
1. Primary School Traditional Dance & Instruments Competitions
Venue : Main Arena – Thabeng Pitch; Time : 09h00 – 16h00; Ticket Prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Competitions in mohobelo, ndlamu, mokhibo and litolobonya as well as various traditional instruments
Also in the Main Arena :
Face painting, pony riding, and other children's activities; net-climbing and youth activities; exhibits, craft sales and food stalls; and more.
2. Primary School Drama & Poetry Competitions
Venue : Museum Amphitheatre; Time : 09h00 – 16h00; Ticket prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Sesotho and English dramas and poetry
Food will be sold
3. African Films by Film Resource Unit
Venue : Morija Conference Centre (Mophato oa Morija); Time : All day; Ticket prices : Free
Specific film titles to be announced later
4. Afternoon concert of Live Music and Poetry
Venue : Main Arena; Time : 16h00-18h00; Ticket Prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Dutch hip hop band, Tembisa youth jazz group, local famo & gospel groups, as well as outstanding young poets
Also in the Main Arena :
Face painting, pony riding, and other children's activities; net-climbing and youth activities; exhibits, craft sales and food stalls; and more.
SATURDAY, 06 October
1. Adult Dance Competitions
Venue: Museum Amphitheatre; Time : 09h00 – 14h00; Ticket prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Cultural groups from the districts, Maseru factories and elsewhere
Competition in mohobelo, ndlamo and mokhibo
Food will be sold
2. High School Traditional Dance & Instruments Competitions
Venue : Main Arena – Thabeng Pitch; Time : 09h00 – 15h00; Ticket Prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Competitions in mohobelo, ndlamu, mokhibo and litolobonya and various instruments
Also in the Main Arena :
Face painting, pony riding, and other children's activities; net-climbing and youth activities; exhibits, craft sales and food stalls; and more.
3. High School Drama & Poetry Competitions
Venue : Historic Morija Church ; Time: 09h00 – 15h00; Ticket Prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Sesotho and English dramas & poetry
4. African Films by Film Resource Unit
Venue : Morija Conference Centre (Mophato oa Morija); Time : All day; Ticket prices : Free
Specific film titles to be announced later
5. Afternoon concert of Live Music and Poetry
Venue : Main Arena; Time : (15h00 – 18h00); Ticket prices : Children R 5, Adults R 10
Dutch hip hop band, Tembisa youth jazz group, local famo & gospel groups, as well as outstanding young poets
Also in the Main Arena :
Face painting, pony riding, and other children's activities; net-climbing and youth activities; exhibits, craft sales and food stalls; and more.
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