Ebubeleni Music Festival draws crowd of 25,000

Nelson Mandela Bay cultural event spread over three days


The Ebubeleni Music Festival marked itself as Nelson Mandela Bay’s flagship event of the year as more than 25,000 festival-goers attended the main festival on Sunday.
The seventh annual music festival was held at the NMB Stadium over three days and included an Urban Festival of hip-hop versus gqom, a night of comedy at the Boardwalk ICC and the Main Festival, which saw tickets sold out.
Acts such as Nasty C, Lady Zamar, Emtee and Sjava graced the Urban Festival stage last Friday, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. iWalk Ye Phara singer Moonchild Sanelly, who was featured on Beyonce’s Instagram, wowed crowds in a sequined leotard singing hit after hit.
Moonchild Sanelly shocked fans when she told them she was a Port Elizabeth girl.
The first comedy show reached 75% attendance – a sign of good things, event organiser Tembi Mahambehlala said.
And as it was the first time Ebubeleni had been held over three days, the festival met all expectations.
“We’re thinking of keeping the festival over the three-day period but that depends on what the people say. We always keep our ear to the ground and listen to the opinion of festival- goers,” the organiser said.
Mahambehlala thanked the people of the metro and visitors for their constant support in making sure the festival was a hugely successful event.
On Sunday the main festival saw ticket sell out, with performances by Zonke Dikana, Dumza Maswana, Lawrence Matshiza, Loyiso Gijana, Nathi and Busiswa, who closed the show to a firework display.
Festinos enjoyed the picnic- style show in camp chairs under umbrellas while listening to their favourite artists.
However, after the show a post by jazz musician Titi Luzipho circulated on Facebook criticising the event organisers for what she said was the indifferent treatment of local artists compared to national acts.
In her post Luzipho wrote: “To underpay them is a disgrace and to treat them like they are nobodies is plainly disgusting and inhuman in my books”.
On Wednesday Mahambehlala said local artists were given the respect they deserved and musicians such as Sizwe Zako and Lawrence Matshiza were presented with their biographies before coming on stage.
“We referred to Sizwe as a local artist because he’s from here and because he’s returned home to plough back into the Bay.
“As far as I know, we pay our artists better than all other promoters. You can’t please everyone,” Mahambehlala said.

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