27 Apr 2026

The second annual Stanbic Music N Lifestyle festival, held at the Royal Aria stadium on Saturday in Tlokweng, has lived to the hype of a lifestyle event. Since its inception in 2025, the event has been regarded as a high-energy day event with an experience of top international and local music acts, chef demonstrations and a diverse gourmet food and wine market.

In its maiden 2025 event, Stanbic Bank delivered a musically and culinary acclaimed experience for the patrons and the second instalment was even applauded for its high-energy, vibrant atmosphere and top-tier line-up of performing acts and DJs.

 With close to 3 000 people in attendance, this alone tells of the appreciation people have for a fun, chilled event that also allows them to indulge in good food.

 The cold weather did nothing to deter them from showing up. In fact, they did not just show up to take pictures for the socials; Instagram and Facebook, they networked and immersed themselves in all that was on offer.

And the performances, undoubtedly the most anticipated parts of the festival were of a grander scale, woven together with live recitals and renditions; thoroughly curated to cater for all the Gen age ranges.  Ezra Neethings did a solid job entertaining the crowd with his ensemble with KTM Choir. 

He however, overpowered the mighty KTM with his vocals and beats and the ensemble almost did not really show off KTM’s harmonious sound and the repertoire did not match the choir’s vocal ability, range  and skill to ensure a successful performance on some songs.

The choir’s melody came to cohesion on Pula and more audible on Merwalela.

KTM choir and Ezra’s rendition of Merwalela was one for the books, with perfect blending of KTM’s diverse individual vocals of their musical skills on pitch matching, blending and rhythm. 

When Boogie Sid and The Tribal Fusion Orchestra came on stage, the crowd showed an appreciation to a different vibe of various instruments. 

Boogie Sid who is a renowned Botswana DJ often treats his audience to something different to what they are normally used to.

For this set, he used different elements to create his own version of the orchestra, with various instruments of small guitars and violins. 

“The project is called the Tribal Fusion Orchestra because there are drums, there is a saxophone, a bass guitar and at the end we did the vocals with dancers as well and guys blowing fire,” said Boogie Sid in an interview following his performance. 

He said putting together this set was a challenge, but it came out beautifully.  The DJ found a way to interpret the music differently by adding a band and all the other elements to make something exciting, different and fresh.  The crowd amazingly received his set, enjoying a couple of tracks as well as loving the fire spinning.

With its high-quality, diverse food bazaar for everyone, the event did not compromise, from the flavours to the presentation, everything was flawless.

Having so much on offer, it was actually confusing to decide on what to indulge in and quite tempting to have a go at all the delicacies availed.

There was something for everyone; from braai meat to sweet treats.Many lined patiently at the VIP lounge, for chefs’ stir fry, that looked out of this world.

At that point, weight watching and dieting seemed the furthest thing from the patrons’ minds. 

After all, enjoying oneself once in a while, did no one any harm.

The Stanbic Music N Lifestyle festival also celebrated art and fashion with diverse artistic showcase, highlighting the diverse influences across Batswana’s multiple artistic disciplines. 

It was a melting pot of creativity of visual art and fashion designs. 

Attendees were treated to a rich tapestry of artistic expression of various local fashion brands such as Glotto, Collections By BK Proctor, The Denim Loft and Nguo; all displayed for cultural stylistic installation and for sale. 

Overall, the event gave attendees a memorable experience of a lifestyle event. 

A patron, Nono Seepa, described it as ‘a smooth and electrifying experience.’ 

Seepa, who experiencing the event for the first time, said she enjoyed the drinks and music.

 “It is a great experience, the drinks were great and the acts were also top tier, I enjoyed Ezra Neethings with KTM Choir, Oskido and some of the DJs also played great music,” she said.

Another impressed patron, Lebo Moilwe, excitedly said she loved how there was no administrative hassle in getting into the venue. 

“I know some were ushered in by shuttles from the gate, the VIPs, but we also did not experience any difficulty getting in and everyone had a great time,” she said. ENDS