By Phiwa Sikhondze
Applications are now open for the all-new Standard Bank Luju Food & Fashion Indaba!
This year, the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival reinforces its commitment towards creative Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) development with this new, innovative, and impactful initiative open to entrepreneurs in the food and fashion industries.
According to the Festival’s Creative Director Jiggs Thorne, “’The Indaba will be a dynamic two-day program of capacity development workshops, insightful panel discussions, masterclasses, and knowledge sharing on industry best practices with food and fashion experts from Eswatini and across the Southern African region.'”
“The Indaba precedes the main festival opening, with the Fashion Indaba on 1st August 2024, and the Food Indaba on 2nd August 2024, both taking place at House On Fire. Application forms to attend can be found on the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival website: lujufestival.com, as well as all festival’s social media platforms.”
Worth noting is that the sixth edition of the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival will be held from 2–3 August 2024, showcasing culinary exploits, future-forward fashion, fine music, and wholesome entertainment inspired by the festival ethos, ‘A Return to the African Future’. Luju celebrates the sophistication and elegance of African heritage, cuisine, and creative design.
The festival platform consciously promotes the creative economy, sustainability, and small-business growth through workshops, demonstrations, mentorship opportunities, industry workshops, cultural exchanges, and sustainability best practices.
Thorne further disclosed that the Food Indaba will welcome culinary influencers, restaurateurs, chefs, regulators, health practitioners, retailers, suppliers, distributors, producers, and farmers.
The program includes interactive panel discussions on local food sovereignty, a healthy supply chain, and kitchen skills demonstrations.
This year’s fashion theme, ‘African-Futurism,’ celebrates the revolutionary power of Fashion by blending African history and heritage with fantasy, technology, and futuristic concepts.
African Futurism draws from traditional clothing, futuristic designs, and avant-garde fashion movements.
Moreover, the Festival Director noted that the Fashion Indaba invites stakeholders from Eswatini’s fashion industry, including designers, business professionals, consultants, finance and education institutions, government agencies, NGOs, and others invested in the future of fashion in the Kingdom.
This year’s focus is ‘Scaling your Brand,’ addressing critical challenges and empowering the sector.
The Fashion Indaba is sponsored by Standard Bank, Mastercard, Kulture Xchange, Zyle Clothing, and Dala Spaces.