The Simply You Magazine Lifestyle and Fashion Awards (SYMLAFAs) are returning to create memories in the entertainment industry at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) for its fourth edition on 12 September 2020, and entries for the different categories are closing on 29 May 2020.
Helena Ngaifiwa, the brains behind the awards, and her team narrated the awards take pride in creating a platform for local and international personalities to network. “SYMLAFAs 2020, themed Met Gala, aims to celebrate fashion and art on its well-anticipated red carpet with a rousing line-up of performers and international personalities,” said Ngaifiwa.
From 18 categories, the awards have now reduced to 15 and favourite actor, actress, DJ and sport have been removed from the list of accolades. “The reason for removing these awards is that all the four categories already have award shows in the country, and we want to celebrate everyone,” explained Ngaifiwa.
For the 2020 edition, the awards are backed up by Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR). “We are also excited to announce our collaboration with NWR to expose our personalities to promote tourism and the beautiful
heritage of our country, as each winner will walk away with an NWR voucher, valued at N$5 000 to any NWR resort in Namibia,” stated Ngaifiwa.
She said the momentum picked when they collaborated with the national broadcaster. “Since 2019, working with NBC took SYMLAFA 2019 to a larger audience of 1.6million viewers,” she mentioned. SYMLAFAs stages have over the years embraced artists – the likes of Sally Boss Madam, Kp Illest, Top Cheri, Fernando the Drumking, Imms Music and many more.
“The awards also take pride in acknowledging those who made extraordinary strides in their fields in the ‘Diamond Award’ category. In 2017, humanitarians and philanthropist Samuel Kapepo have bestowed this honour, while in 2018, artists and humanitarian Lize Ehlers claimed the accolade. Libertina Amathila, liberation struggle icon and philanthropist was the 2019 ‘Diamond Award’ winner,” informed Ngaifiwa.
Simply You Magazine also launched its official website (www.symnam.com). “Over the years, our biggest struggle has been penetrating the corporate world to support us. As we all know, printing costs in Namibia is very expensive. Some years, we printed fewer copies than others but we pushed through,” stated Ngaifiwa.
The awards have had highlights over the years, with the first SYMLAFAs in 2017 that brought in continental personalities such as South Africa’s television personalities Maps Maponyane and Lasizwe Dambuza, as well as Nigerian reality TV star Beverly Osu gracing the red carpet and stage.
– psiririka@nepc.com.na