I got inside and find a few tents placed sporadically on the pitch. Again…with no signage, I was left to figure out which tent dealt with the actual Donkey that I wanted to buy because it’s what..? It was dark. Because why? No lights. Ehe. Now we were following.
I got to one tent, the tent was empty. I made my way to another tent and eventually found a few ladies selling the donkey. I asked for NAD50 worth of Donkey meat with a NAD100 note. The lady yelled on top of her voice “No sir, we are [not] working with MONEY, strictly coupons”. I, with a CALM tone asked where the coupons were being sold. She told me at the gate and made an off the record remark: “This girl at the gate is supposed to tell the people that we are working with coupons”.
So I made my way to the gate, and to my surprise (or not), there was again an absence of any paying structure and people were going in and out as they pleased. It was on my way back into the stadium from the gate that I magically had to figure out that the coupons were on sale to the right as your entered the stadium.
I got the coupons, eventually got the meat and found a position on the pitch to indulge in on my Donkey.
DJ:
As I was enjoying my Donkey (which was cold if I might add), the Dj had the crowd on their feet with the Damara Pansie and Langarm tunes he was playing. But that was just for a good 10 minutes. He decided to switch the genre from Damara Pansie/Langarm…to wait for it…HOUSE! Again, if you do not find a problem with that, than we need to interrogate what quality means in this country.
You cannot play House at a festival that is linked to the pride of the Damara people. It’s like going to the Olufuko Festival and having a Dj play Chris Brown (or Chlis Blown in some parts of the country) instead of Kuku Nkandanga. That is where I drew the line and left that COLD donkey and abandoned the festival for a better event that was happening somewhere else around the city.
All in all? The Donkey Festival was held in the dark, with house music and cold donkey meat. Event organisers of this nature need to be probed with all the effort that is going into finding Shaduka. You cannot risk people’s lives because you want to make a quick dollar. It does not work that way. It is time Namibians demand that event organisers stage well organised events. You are asking me to leave my comfort zone to attend your event…yes? If yes than make your event as comfortable and convenient as my damn house/office/room!
The Donkey Festival 2016 was a travesty! I call on the Abuti Hatage AKA Mr. Harambee (or Halambee in some parts of the country) to fix this!
Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!
Song of the week: Ona: Dumelang
Flop of the week: Pain Killers ft. Love G: Sindrela
Is it an MC you need? BOOK NSK, at naobebsekind@gmail.com
@naobebsekind(twitter) NSK #GMTM (facebook)