LUJU FESTIVAL SUPPORTS LOCALS

MBABANE – A true definition of local is Lekker!

This best describes what Standard Bank Luju Food and Lifestyle Festival did with the event which was held in the past weeks. House On Fire hosted the first major festival since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Standard Bank Luju Food and Lifestyle festival was held, on November 27 and 28.
This event gave hope to many people, as a sign that the nation was slowly but surely emerging from the COVID-19 crisis and finding ways to live and work around the pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating to the economy. Sectors like retail, hospitality, and the entertainment sector have been hit particularly hard.

Creative

Within this context, it is extremely heartening to see the creative and arts industry come alive again after two years of economic struggle. House On Fire and Standard Bank believe that this festival has helped to support the local art and lifestyle sector in Eswatini, as well as pioneering the safe and responsible hosting of events. The Luju festival achieved its goal to support local by booking 90 per cent local acts out of the 16 acts (and the surprise act!) who performed during the two-day festival.

The close to 500 temporary staff required to construct and run the festival were almost all hired from the Lobamba lomdzala Inkhundla. House on Fire expressed gratitude for the immense support received for this positive initiative. We would like to highlight the Ministry of Health and our other COVID-19 vaccination partners, whose guidance and support in assisting with the development of viable health and safety protocols has enabled the arts industry to stage its first festival in two years.

Vaccination

Close to 1 000 people were vaccinated as a direct result of the Luju festival, through the Luju Pop-Up activations, staff vaccination drive, and neighboring community in Lobamba lomdzala. “The whole Standard Bank team extends its utmost appreciation to the guests, traders, artists, designers, sponsors, business community and every single individual who actively participated in ensuring the success of this festival,” said Jiggs Thorne.

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