Riverside Heritage Day event celebrates cultural diversity in Extension 33
Riverside Square came alive as local residents gathered to mark Heritage Day with traditional music, dance and authentic cuisine.
Traditional music, dance, and authentic local cuisine were on display as residents packed Riverside Square for a community showcase.
Riverside residents gathered at Riverside Square in Extension 33 on September 27 to celebrate South Africa’s diverse cultures as part of an annual Heritage Day event.
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Organised under the theme ‘Our Heritage, Our Pride, Our Future’, the event brought community members together to showcase different cultural traditions through traditional clothing, music, food and dance.
The programme was set to feature Maskandi, Shibelane, Sepedi and Venda music groups, with residents encouraged to attend and celebrate their heritage together.
Ward 96 councillor Rufus Maswazi said the annual celebration was intended to bring different cultures within the community together.
“We have got different cultures here at this event,” said Maswazi. “It’s an annual event. In other words, we normally host this event every year.”
He said the event had previously been hosted in other areas but was brought to Riverside this year.
“Community members are dressed up in their own traditional attire,” he said. “They’re going to be dancing according to their own different cultures.”
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The event experienced a delay before the scheduled programme could begin, with organisers still finalising logistics and waiting for the sound system to be operational.
Maswazi acknowledged the delay, saying organisers were working to ‘tighten up the loose strings’ before the celebrations could get underway.
Photo: Ayanda Ntshingila
The councillor said the celebration was deliberately extended beyond Heritage Day on September 24, with September 27 marking the final day of the community’s celebrations.
“Heritage Day is normally on the 24th of September every year, but ours we extended up until the 27th,” he said. “It’s the last day today, so we just want to finish it off with a bang.”
“We’re calling to the community that’s around here; let them come and enjoy themselves today. There’s no alcohol being served. It’s just water and food and enjoying ourselves,” he said.
The celebration formed part of efforts to bring Riverside residents together while creating an opportunity for different cultural traditions to be shared and celebrated within the community.
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