Malkerns – The eighth edition of the Standard Bank Luju Food and Lifestyle Festival is set to open its doors this weekend at House On Fire in Malkerns, with organisers promising their biggest and most ambitious programme yet.
The festival’s Communications Manager Phiwo Dhlamini officially opened a media briefing on Thursday at House On Fire, welcoming journalists and outlining the weekend schedule before handing over to the festival’s key programme curators.
Culinary curator Sasha Thorne told reporters the food programme this year is anchored in the theme “Lumbini Foodways,” which she described as an exploration of Nguni food culture and its deep connection to identity, land and heritage. 
“We are looking at how food has shaped us as Bantu people who fall under the Nguni tribe,” Thorne said. “How food has created spaces for us to become who we are, how it has created essentially our identity as Emaswati, as Zulu people, as amaNdebele, as amaXhosa.”
She said the theme draws on the food traditions of the four Bantu speaking cultures that fall under the Nguni tribe, tracing how food guided the movement of people from nomadic lifestyles to settled communities.
“When we look at the food ways, that is kalaphi, sisukaphi, from hunter gatherers to how we went from being nomadic people to being sedentary, that was all informed by the food,” she said. “We went looking for fertile lands where we could grow vegetables. We went looking for open fields where we could rear cattle.”
Thorne noted that the theme also confronts modern day wasteful consumption by pointing back to what she described as the sustainable practices of Nguni ancestors. “We’ve always fermented our brews. We’ve always dried and cured our meats. It’s things that we’ve always had as Nguni people,” she said, adding that things like biltong and umqombothi brewing were not new concepts borrowed from elsewhere but deeply rooted African practices.
The culinary programme will include a Food in Daba panel discussion at the amphitheater on Friday at 1:00 PM, covering topics such as land and heritage as well as cow and culture, with conservationists, culture experts from national archives, chefs from Zimbabwe and representatives from Standard Bank all expected to participate. Full culinary demonstrations will run across Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 PM, featuring Nguni fine dining with wines, Nguni dessert making workshops, nose to tail cooking workshops and an umqombothi beer brewing masterclass.
Fashion curator Philippa Thorne told the briefing that this year’s fashion programme under the theme “Kasuga Suvela” features the highest number of local designers the festival has ever had, with 11 Swazi designers set to showcase their collections.
“I really feel like it’s one of the only and most visible platforms where local designers get to showcase their creative work,” she said. “A lot of the amazing talent in fashion in Eswatini doesn’t often get to show it on this kind of platform.”
She said the festival began working with the designers as far back as April, with support from Far East Textiles, which sponsored fabric for the collections, and mentorship from established designer Sasalu Talanta Lukele. “For some of them, it’s the first time they’re showing on a runway,” Thorne noted.
There will be two fashion shows this year. A pop up fashion show featuring both Swazi and regional designers will take place at 3:00 PM on Saturday in the Fashion Cafe, while the headline Luju fashion runway show is scheduled for 6:45 PM on the Honeycomb Stage. Thorne said the Fashion Cafe will host 45 traders, including fashion, accessory and handicraft vendors, and that designers will also be present on Sunday for media and festival goers to meet and hear their stories.
She pointed to last year’s outcomes as evidence of the programme’s commercial impact. “Last year we had two designers from Swaziland who were on the runway get retail opportunities in South Africa,” she said.
The Best Dress competition also returns this year, with a celebrity designer among the judges. Photo booth slots have been set for 12:00 PM, 2:30 PM, 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, with announcements on judges to follow on social media.
Nomawethu Jonga, representing title sponsor Standard Bank Eswatini, told reporters the bank’s involvement in the festival this year is tied directly to its new brand campaign, Phokophela Sinawe, which she described as more than a marketing message.
“Phokophela Sinawe is more than a brand campaign. It is a brand promise,” she said, adding that the activation at the festival will focus on rewarding customers and supporting entrepreneurs within the creative economy. She said the bank’s Head of Business and Commercial Banking would be present at the festival to engage directly with small business owners and creatives.
“We really want to see young people thrive, we really want to see the creative economy grow,” Jonga said. “As a Swazi, you don’t need to go to Paris to see high fashion culture. You don’t need to be sitting in London to experience fine dining. You can have it right here.”
Standard Bank’s on site presence will include a Phokophela Sinawe activation offering drinks vouchers, food vouchers and grocery vouchers, as well as a MasterCard Lounge.
The Beehive, the festival’s family friendly zone, will this year carry the theme “Inganekwane,” inspired by African folk tales and storytelling. Programme coordinator Sarah Voss said activities will include a spelling competition in partnership with the National Spelling Bee and West Gate Books, karaoke, storytelling sessions and short film screenings in collaboration with the EU and Alliance Française.
Traders coordinator Sara Vost also told reporters that the festival will host just over 150 traders this year, with 99 per cent of them local. The Heritage Food Gardens will include the Nguni Food Lounge, a space supported by the International Trade Centre and the EU, where eight MSMEs that have been in training for three months will have their first opportunity to trade at the festival. A group of women farmers who won a community-level cook-off competition have also earned a stall at this year’s festival.
Gates open at 10:00 AM daily. The festival app, available via QR code, provides access to the full programme, a festival map and performance reminders.
