As part of the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival’s commitment to supporting sustainable farming and community development, a portion of every ticket sold for the festival will go towards supporting and setting up beekeeping farms in Eswatini. This means that everyone who buys a ticket to the festival will be directly uplifting small-scale bee farmers and related services in developing areas in Eswatini, with SZL10 from each ticket committed to the beekeeping project.
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival, World Vision Eswatini and Emlembe Beverages, which produces healthy organic honey, have partnered together to use their skills and expertise to enhance the livelihoods of small-scale beekeeping farmers and improve local honey production, taste, marketing and bee colony conservation in the Lobamba Lomdzala and Mahlangatsha areas in Eswatini.
“Luju” means “honey” and so it was only natural that the festival should support bee farmers. Bees are essential to farming; fertilizing many crops as well as providing delicious, healthy, golden honey that can be used for food, medicine and cosmetics. Bees are also very vulnerable to climate change and pollution, which is why it is important to promote a robust bee industry in Eswatini.
World Vision Eswatini, an international humanitarian organisation whose focus is on the transformational development of vulnerable communities, for the benefit of children, will facilitate, implement, and supervise the project from an existing World Vision beekeeping project in Mahlangatsha, with the aim of setting up small-scale bee farming in Lobamba Lomdzala, where the festival is held annually. World Vision will also provide equipment and protective clothing required for beekeeping, such as bee suits, veils, gloves and gumboots.
Emlembe Beverages, a bottled spring water and organic honey supplier in Eswatini with a commitment to source local and promote Fair Trade principles, will provide technical expertise and equipment for honey production, mentorship and market linkages, including services ranging from tasting, packaging and marketing to beehive relocation transport services and securing apiary sites at orchard farms.
About The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival
Taking place from September 30 – October 1, The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival is held annually at House On Fire, a unique, iconic performance venue featuring an eclectic mixture of diverse yet harmonious architectural and cultural art styles from around the world.
The Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival is a family-friendly feast of culinary exploits, connoisseur-led premium wine and whiskey showcases, fine music, colourful fashion and wholesome entertainment. Through culinary showcases by celebrity chefs, and high-end fashion designs inspired by the Luju ethos “A Return to the African Future”, the festival celebrates the sophistication and elegance of African vintage style, creative design and delicacies. Come and Eat, Sway, Love and rejoice in our heritage and culture, in all its Afro-futuristic boldness.
Tickets are still available on the official website, as well as a range of travel and accommodation options. Make sure you have booked your tickets, your accommodation via the website or directly with hotels nearby.
All of the options for festival tickets, as well as for on-site camping opportunities can be found on the website here.
Look out for updates with the Luju Buzz on social platforms: @lujufestival on Facebook & Twitter, and @luju_festival on Instagram.