We are a colourful people with different cultures and a beautiful backdrop that is Mogale City and it is about time that we celebrate it – and the Kagiso Festival of Peace aims to do just that.

“The festival will transform areas of Kagiso into an open air art gallery and theme park using street lights, the stadium, our parks and other areas of Kagiso to deliver a unique and peaceful experience as we celebrate art and love,” said Karabo Yumba, spokesperson for the festival.

The week-long event will take place from Sunday, 27 November to Sunday, 4 December.

“Events like these provide opportunities for participation, skills development, volunteering and social, cultural and economic development.

Community events and festivals attract tourists and visitors at regional, national and international level. In addition to all of that, we want to foster a feeling of community pride and become a vehicle that will help alleviate youth unemployment and other social ills that are faced by Kagiso and Mogale City Local Municipality,” Karabo said.

Partnering with the municipality, Gauteng Tourism Authority and West Rand Tourism will ensure that the event is successful.

“These organisations are helping us in many different ways. We are getting skills development, marketing support, landscape approval, lobbying and stakeholder engagement from our various partners and we are grateful,” Karabo told the News.

Not just loud music and dancing, the festival begins with a parade on the streets of Kagiso that will stop at the Kagiso stadium where the opening concert will begin. Locals can look forward to fun activities such as box-cart races where they can build their own box-carts and enter a race, go-kart racing, cooking competitions, skating, paintballing, arcade games and wall-climbing.

“We are pulling out all stops to make Kagiso the place to be during this period. We have hot-air balloon tours, an arts exhibition and a kiddies zone that will cater for children between the ages of five and 12. We also have a fashion week, a local play and street animators,” Karabo told the News.

Local talent will be used as Kagiso comes alive. The organisers are urging anyone who wants to participate in the festival as an exhibitor to visit www.raphushanakfp.co.za and fill in exhibitor forms, and those who are interested in volunteering are also welcome.