By Sizwe Dlamini
Traders interested in being part of this year’s edition of the Standard Bank Luju & Lifestyle Festival have until the 3rd of July 2024 to submit their applications.
House on Fire’s Communications Officer, Simon Dawson in a press release noted that they are inviting entrepreneurs in food and fashion, as well as children’s and experiential services, to be part of the festival’s impact in advancing creative SME development through the opportunity to trade at the festival.
The festival will take place at House On Fire, in Eswatini’s scenic Malkerns Valley, from Friday 2nd to Saturday 3rd August 2024, showcasing some of the finest food, fashion, music, design, beauty, entertainment, culinary exploits, premium wine, and whiskey showcases, craft beverages and much more from Eswatini and across the region.
Dawson revealed that the festival has established an inspiring record of empowering local traders. In 2023, traders generated a combined total of E2.1 million.
“The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival draws a large local and regional audience of around 10,000 people, offering the opportunity to showcase products to both Eswatini and the Southern African market. This access is reinforced by the many cross-regional partnerships developed by the festival, in the culinary, fashion, and design spaces,” he stated.
He further noted that as part of both Standard Bank Eswatini and House On Fire’s mandates to support local and capacitate new entrepreneurs, Standard Bank Luju consciously uses the festival platform to develop and promote the creative economy, sustainability, and small business growth through a series of skills-sharing and best practices workshops and demonstrations held before and during the festival.
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival comprises a wholesome variety of trading environments called Hives. Each Hive, or trading environment, offers opportunities for unique experiences.
The Culinary Hive is the festival’s food environment which features pop-up food stations that support drink pairing, tastings, and specialized demonstrations by renowned chefs and connoisseurs.
Fashion, Beauty, and Design, including skin, hair care, make-up, and design lifestyle brands, are expressed through the Fashion Café Hive. It also features Fashion Shows and Best Dressed Activations.
The kids-oriented Luju Bee Hive welcomes vendors looking to provide exciting and engaging entertainment and food for children of all ages, while Experiential Services applications are available for traders looking to enhance the festival experience for our guests with massages, hubbly lounges, face-painting, and similar.
The application process is all online. Find the form here: LUJU TRADER APPLICATION FORM 2024 (jotform.com)
Links to the application form can also be found on the Luju Festival website, www.lujufestival.com, as well as Luju Festival and House On Fire social media platforms.
The Communications Officer disclosed that the Final trader selection will be made by Friday 12th July, 2024.
“Due to the volume of applications, only successful applicants will be contacted. Traders need to incorporate the Luju 2024 themes into their products and services. Applicants are encouraged to note that the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival is a 100% cashless environment, using NFC chips on festival wristbands for transactions. Luju is committed to being an eco-friendly event and all traders are required to use eco-friendly packaging. Queries may be directed to traders@house-on-fire.com.”