What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Venda? Personally it’s the SABC 2 soapie Muvhango’s theme song, crazy I know but I am ashamed to admit that I am not knowledgeable about the north side of our country as much as I should be and I am pretty sure this is the case with a lot of young south Africans especially those that live further down the south. As a Joburger I am pretty much spoiled when it comes to weekend socials and partying so I always get a little doubtful when someone invites me to party out of town especially when the festival is in Venda, hundreds of kilometers away from my beloved Jozi city. Royal Gardens has to be one of Venda’s best-kept Secrets and this year experienced the third installment of The Royal Heritage Festival, nestled at the base of the Nandoni Dam. Limpopo is the land of myths, legends, beautiful scenery and landscape, as well as majestic Baobab trees. It shares borders with the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe – a proximity which makes it the perfect springboard for exploring the riches of this exciting part of the African continent.
Okay so with that being said I’m sure you get a picture that maybe Limpopo is a great place to relax and not to party right? Yeah I also thought the same thing till I got there, This was my second experience at the festival as I attended the second one for the first time last year. This year was a little different though as the logistics were much better than the previous year plus the organizers had three VIP tents instead of just one like before. There was VIP, VVIP and VVVIP and I had only access to the VVIP which was a bit of a problem for me I mean I can’t travel all the way from Gauteng and spend all those hours on the road if I am not going to get the best experience jo so after arguing and fighting with the management they finally let me go spend “twenty minutes” at the VVVIP coz I argued that I had to interview celebs and that huge tent with the light blue lights was the only place were I could do my job properly, but you know how it is I eventually ended up spending the rest of the evening that side.
Anyways back to the gig I have to say man I really love how the good people of Venda can party in peace even though the venue was packed out to the max with over 10 000 people in attendance, I really love how they embrace their own music as they were screaming and shouting when the local acts came on stage. This event hosted a unique melting pot of cultures, coming together for an enormous celebration.
Artists that were performing included Mafikizolo, Ringo Madlingozi, Oliver Mtukudzi, Khuli Chana and iFani, The deejays were Sphe & Naves, Fresh & Euphonik and the Naked DJ amongst others. I had a great time but last year’s gig was much better than this one even though this year’s event grew on a larger scale, well done Venda on to the next one!
