12 Sep 2016

Mr and Miss 50 years’ pageant will be celebrated in style having infused an aspect of a fashion show that resonates well with Botswana’s history.

Giving an overview of the pageant on Thursday (September 8), fashion director, Kutlwano Mogojwe said usually pageants and fashion shows were done on separate occasions.

This year, he said they would have the pageant and the fashion show on the same day. 

He noted that top Gaborone designers would design Botswana inspired attires for the contestants from 16 districts. 

Mogojwe stated that the designs would infuse the blue, black and white colours of Botswana with a flair that is unorthodox to the gear that people on the street usually don. 

He said they had tried to break barriers that models were the only ones who could model by challenging the class of 1966 to strut their stuff on the ramp. 

The director said the designs allow the designers to be creative and make traditional formal and casual attires for diversity. 

He stated that since the fashion show was a Gaborone District event, only designers based in Gaborone would be allowed to participate. 

“We are bringing fashion business into this event so that anyone who wants to buy an outfit from the ramp, should do so. So this is a pageant which serves a greater purpose,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the 50 to 50 City Festival event director, Massie Hule noted that the 50 hours celebrations towards 50 years of independence is expected to attract over 20 000 people. 

He said the event, which is free, would start on Friday 23 at 8am and ends on Sunday at 10am when the city receives the torch. 

He further highlighted that on the night of September 24, there would be fireworks show to ignite the city at the Old Lobatse road where the event would be hosted. 

Hule stated that this event would pump in money in the tourism and hospitality industry and also create employment for the 50 artists who would be performing. 

He said this was an all-encompassing festival, which allows families to attend with their children since there would be fun parks.

 He indicated that they had invited South African artists who had a history in Botswana during apartheid in the likes of Hugh Masekela to come and share their experiences with Batswana. 

He stated that the event had a budget estimation of over P1.5 million, which he said was not enough calling on the business sector to assist where possible. ENDS