Port Elizabeth-born Vusi Nova, riding high on the charts with his smash hit, As'phelelanga, has been added to the lineup for the 10th annual Buyel’Ekhaya Festival in East London on Sunday December 16.
The festival is again expected to thrill the crowds on the public holiday with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Jonas Gwangwa, Zahara, Peddie-born Dumza Maswana, Busiswa, Shekhinah, Sun-El Musician, Moonchild Sanelly, Prince Kaybee and Mobi Dixon performing at the Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium.
The 2018 lineup of legends and hit-makers across a variety of genres all contribute to make Buyel’Ekhaya an unmissable event for everyone in the city and from across the region.
Television personality Moshe Ndiki, who was born and brought up in East London, will MC the show. Ndiki’s YouTube channel sees him making fun of himself, Rihanna and everyone in between. He has more than a million views on YouTube and is a television show regular.
Vusi Nova’s chart-topping album, Naninina, reached platinum status just five months after its release in 2016. His past albums were mostly written in English, but he took a different route with Naninina, which is 99.9% Xhosa.
“Xhosa is my home language and I want to be more in touch with my roots,” he said. The past two years have seen him reaching the peak of his career.
The afro-pop sensation was nominated twice for the Metro FM Awards and in 2017 earned the SA Music Awards (Sama) accolade for best afro-pop album for Naninina.
With the remix of Ndimfumene (a track from Naninina) being played on some of the biggest stations in SA, his star continues to rise.
Besides the music festival, Buyel’Ekhaya’s 2018 programme will include workshops and a fashion component, making it a feast for culture lovers. The festival was established in East London in 2009 and has grown from an audience of just 4,000 patrons in 2009 to a 22,000-strong capacity crowd.
Buyel’Ekhaya aims to celebrate all that is African, contributing to the maintenance of cultural heritage and diversity, with activities including fashion and artist development as well as the music festival.
Since inception the festival has hosted a mixture of emerging and established artists from the Eastern Cape, SA and the rest of Africa, making it a Pan-African event.
The 2018 festival is no different and a music workshop hosted by Buyel’Ekhaya earlier in the year yielded a crop of newcomers who will also perform on December 16.
“In 2016, we expanded a two-day programme, closing in on our vision to give full expression to the tenets of culture that form a central part of the African lifestyle through song, dance and fashion. This year this is what patrons can expect,” said Nomahlubi Mazwai, who conceived and produced the Buyel’Ekhaya Festiva.
Mazwai said there would be a fashion workshop on Wednesday December 12 at Hemingways Mall at midday and people can apply for it by e-mailing: info@buyelekhaya.co.za
Rising designers who took part in the 2017 fashion workshop will showcase their designs alongside big names at The Venue at Hemingways Mall on Friday December 14, when Gert-Johan Coetzee, Sonwabile Ndamase, Zimbabwe’s Chimanye Nyasha (known as Zuvva) and Linda Sithole also show off their creations.
Tickets to the music festival on December 16 cost R250 each, and are available from Shoprite, Checkers and Computicket nationwide.