GOBABIS- “If music be the food of love…,” goes a line from one of Shakespeares’ plays. But recently this line turned into a reality when fish could not do the trick and music instead had to fill the void. By twelve O’clock midday the sports stadium here was not only packed to the rafters as the saying goes but a hustle and bustle as all and sundry trickled in. One would have thought the main attraction was the fish as word out that fish would be aplenty on this day, and for free for that matter.
But to the surprise, surprise because many did not seem that disappointed at especially hearing that whatever fish was on offer was so at a cost. But those who could not afford a piece of fish in view of the usually inhibiting prices of local fish, especially the young ones who seemed to have turned up in the hundreds if not thousands had better things to turn to and in the process soothe their would—have-been disappointment at no affordable fish. For as much as there was fish aplenty albeit at a cost, entertainment was equally in dozens of supply, and the good news at no cost at all. The Dogg, Gazza, Twazis, Equipped Dancing Academy, OngoroNomundu and Wild Dogs was more than the youngish crowd could have asked for on the day for free.
And on this day the saying lokaal is lekker (local is nice) assumed real meaning as the massive crowd responded enthusiastically and without any reservation let alone craving for anything else, the so-much celebrated foreign artists, happy and satisfied with their own homebrewed musical cocktail. And yes, on the day the artists proved that they are more than lokaal and a league of their own and perhaps a shoulder above their international counterparts as each of artists who ascended to the podium on the day could not help but sent the youngish crowd into a frenzy and spellbound for a good part of the proceedings while the VIPs recluse self to the VIP tent and the rest of the senior citizens confined self to the fringes of the sports ground lawn at impromptu picnic with younger family members keeping them away for the busy musicians and their excited audience. But maintaining such a safe distance from the musical locomotion, they nevertheless appreciated what was on on offer from the local acts.
If there is no readily available fish, local entertainers and artists, who included activations crew led by such renowned actors such as David Ndjavera, would indeed make up for. So thanks partly to the artists, the Fish Consumption Campaign proved a resounding success, if not in turn out, in sheer entertainment on offer on the day. Of course not to mention DJ Max-T who ably and equally entertainingly directed the entertainment programme.