A famous recite by the founding president of Botswana, the late Sir Seretse Khama that narrates as a nation without a past is a lost nation, and people without a past are people without a soul could be a fitting omen for the passion and enthusiasm the people of Kgalagadi in Ghanzi through Kuru Development Trust had continuously without fail hold the annual Kuru Dance Festival in the past 20 years of its existence.
Kuru Dance Festival is an annual cultural event where different Basarwa groups from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa come together to celebrate and share their rich cultural heritage of storytelling, song and dance. It is hosted in Dqae Qare Farm in the village of D’kar just outside Ghanzi. On its essence, it is the heat, the dust, the clapping and the rhythmic stamping of feet that add to an intensely spiritual experience of their rich cultures.
Beyond mere cultural appreciation of Kuru Dance Festival, there is intrinsic value in the festival and how it serves to grow and develop the local community and her people. For the past 20 years, the renowned festival has brought together a variety of diverse communities from across Botswana, and even beyond our borders. Kuru Dance Festival is a celebration of the diversity of our tribal cultures, as the performances, businesses, and further audiences engaged, come from a variety of communities across Botswana and beyond.
When speaking during the press briefing last week to launch the 20th anniversary, the Managing Director of Barclays Bank Botswana Reinette Van Der Merwe said as the bank and the headline sponsor of the festival for four consecutive years, there is much business potential and developmental opportunity to be exploited through in Ghanzi though this cultural event, as it is an important tool for driving intra-community trade and encouraging the growth of Botswana tourism thus their efforts to continue to giving back to the community of Ghanzi.