By Sizwe Dlamini
Vendors at the 2024 Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival achieved a landmark milestone, generating over E2.5 million in sales as the festival drew a record-breaking crowd of over 10,000 attendees.
This year’s festival, the largest edition to date, spanned two days and featured an enticing mix of gourmet food, avant-garde fashion, and Afrocentric music.
According to the official press release, this year’s event drew festivalgoers from 23 countries across the Southern African region—including Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zambia, and as far afield as the Falklands, Oman, Türkiye, Canada, Europe, and the USA.
Traders Generate Record Revenue: This year’s festival supported small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with 91 vendors, 90% of whom were from Eswatini, with the remainder hailing from South Africa, Lesotho, Zambia, and Mozambique. These vendors collectively generated over E2.5 million in sales, reflecting a significant increase from previous years.
Acknowledgments: The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival has extended its gratitude to all festivalgoers, partners, and sponsors. Special recognition has been given to 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 who contributed to the success of this year’s event.
Culinary Highlights: The expanded culinary program, themed ‘Roots,’ offered a range of masterclasses and demonstrations on the Mastercard stage. Highlights included:
- Celebrity Chef Lorna Maseko: Delivered an engaging cooking demonstration supported by Unifoods.
- Beer Brewing Masterclass: Facilitated by the Beer mistress, Lucy Corne.
- Wine Masterclass and Blind Tasting: Supported by KWV wines and hosted by celebrated Sommelier Saskia Lesch.
- Sushi Demonstration: Presented by Vusi Kunene, known as The Tattooed Chef.
- Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off: Chef Deowza won the title of Pick n Pay Luju Cook-Off Master Chef 2024, narrowly defeating Nomahlubi Dlamini-Gumede. Supported by Pick n Pay Eswatini since 2019, the competition promotes local culinary entrepreneurship.
Additional support for culinary activities came from Standard Bank Unayo, World Veg, Emlembe, and Mongi Botanical.
Fashion Extravaganza: The festival reaffirmed its status as a premier fashion event. The Mastercard Luju Fashion Show featured high-end collections from six of Eswatini’s most talented designers, alongside designers and accessory brands from Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Kenya, and South Africa. The fashion show, aligned with this year’s theme ‘African Futurism,’ showcased a blend of heritage and contemporary designs.
Support for the fashion show and related activities was provided by Standard Bank Unayo, Mastercard, Dala Spaces, Perfect Choice, Kulture Xchange, Black Crown, Lush Hair, Cork & Co, and Happy Valley.
Musical Line-Up The festival’s music lineup featured 47 unique acts, including 30 from Eswatini, across various genres and creative expressions. A total of 177 performers from Eswatini, South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe entertained audiences on multiple stages:
- Simphiwe Dana (South Africa)
- Sisonkhe Kollectiv (Eswatini)
- Wazimbo (Mozambique)
- Sjava, Majozi, Kelvin Momo (South Africa)
- Young Zesh (Eswatini)
- Loius Mhlanga (Zimbabwe)
- Black Heidi (South Africa)
- The Soil (South Africa)
- DJ Mbo (Eswatini)
Children’s Beehive In the children’s Beehive, the expanded program featured entertainment and creative activities. The Luju Junior Master Chef Cook-Off saw 10-year-old Sakhiwe win first place with a granola breakfast dish. He was followed by 6-year-old Kenzo’s peach smoothie and Siviwe and Sibuyelwe’s fruit salad in third place. The Beehive was sponsored by Rhodes Food Group and supported by Sunny and Emlembe.
Food and Fashion Indabas. The festival’s commitment to developing the creative economy, promoting sustainability, and supporting small-business growth was evident in the inaugural Food Indaba and Fashion Indaba. This two-day program of capacity development workshops, panel discussions, and masterclasses took place in the 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 supported by Standard Bank, Mastercard, Kulture Xchange, Zyle Clothing, and Dala Spaces.