By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – With the festive season around the corner, the Thabo Mofutsanyana district festival provided a much-needed platform for local artists and fashion designers to wow the community with their talent at a celebration held at the Phuthadithjaba Multipurpose hall on November 11.
The Thabo Mofutsanyana arts and culture centre introduced some of the local artists and fashion designers at the district festival as various local musicians performed in front of an excited crowd that was treated to different genres of music, as well as a spectacular fashion show that showcased local fashion designers with exceptional talent.
Itumelemg Rampai – whose stage name is DJ Twiggie – from Harrismith treated the crowd to a wonderful compilation of amapiano music that got the crowd moving and singing along.
“My passion for dj-ing started in high school, but I didn’t have much exposure or backup, so I pushed until I started to get gigs, paying gigs. I learned my craft from playing on a music app on my phone.
“I have four years’ experience as a professional DJ because my talent grew one day at a time and I feel very honoured to be part of this festival.”
Award winning gospel artist Mandla Maduna also graced the stage and performed for the crowd that immediately went ballistic as he stepped on to the stage.
David Ngobeni wearing shades alongside models wearing his designs.
The line-up also featured a fabulous fashion show that showcased the work of local fashion designers like Mamoeti Mofokeng with her fashion label named Bundupunk Boutique, David Ngobeni founder of Dafvhonj designs, Lerato Tulo owner of RayCreek and Mahadi Mongale a fashion designer for the label Tsabohadi creatives.
“I have been doing this for about 15 years since I was in grade 11. I decided to develop my talent and got my training from the TVET college because I could feel that this gift is in my blood. I feel very honoured to be showcasing my work today,” Mofokeng said.
The Head of the Department from Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation Steve Tshabalala was among the guests present at the district festival.
He said: “There is a lot of talent in the Free State and our job as a department is to support and hone this talent and make sure that these artists succeed.”
I AM SESOTHO MUSICIAN ARTIST FROM THABO MOFUTSANYANA DISTRICT, SETSOTSOTO LOCAL MANICIPALITY,MEQHELENG FICKSBURG. I WANT TO JOIN THIS HERITAGE EVENT. TO PRESENT BASOTHO CALTURE(sesotho fashioneng), to the fullest.