Ingwebu to spread cultural dance festival

Standard People
After hosting a successful competition in Gwanda and Bulawayo, Ingwebu Breweries will cascade the competition to other parts of the country.

After hosting a successful competition in Gwanda and Bulawayo, Ingwebu Breweries will cascade the competition to other parts of the country.

By Sindiso Dube in bulawayo

Last week saw Bambanani Arts Ensemble shrugging off stiff competition from seven other contestants at Manor Hotel in Bulawayo in the preliminary rounds of the Ingwebu Cultural Dance Festival.

The win means Bambanani Arts Ensemble will take part at the regional finals, which will be held at White City Stadium. Iluba Lemvelo were second and walked home with prize money, while Great Stars secured the third slot.

Ingwebu Breweries head of marketing, research and development Sindani Mathafeni Khumalo told The Standard Style that the competition seeks to celebrate culture through dance.

“We are celebrating culture through dance. We have many forms of culture, including traditional ones like muchongoyo, isitshikitsha, amabhiza and ingquza, among others, and modern forms like house, hip-hop and kwaito, which all should be celebrated,” he said.

“It’s a competition that is run to celebrate the diversity in oneness.

“We are one people and diverse in terms of our cultural orientation and practices and this is celebrated under the umbrella term of Ingwebu, which is a social drink imbibed during social gatherings.”

Khumalo said after the competitions in Gwanda and Bulawayo, they would move to Midlands province.

“We have had successful editions in Gwanda and Bulawayo. We will be going to other places like Midlands and other provinces,” he said.

“The provincial winners will then battle it out in the national finale that would come on a date to be advised.”

Khumalo said Ingwebu Breweries was involved in initiatives that promote and preserve culture.

“We are a ‘royal company’, so it is our mandate to contribute towards the preservation of culture. We believe that this can be achieved through the celebration of one aspect of our culture, which is dance,” he said