BY SINDISO DUBE
HUNDREDS of local and international visitors who attended the third edition of the Amagugu Food and Beverages expo have appealed to organisers of the annual event to, at least, host the expo twice a year, as they feel it brings a unique and brilliant experience.
The week-long third edition of the event started on April 1 at Amagugu International Cultural Centre run by historian Pathisa Nyathi in Matopos, 60km along the Bulawayo-Kezi/Maphisa Road.
The traditional food expo seeks to conscientise people on the nutritional value of traditional foods and beverages, including the preservation of culture.
The first five days of the expo were dedicated to primary and secondary schools so that they share the various African dishes, including how they are prepared before it was declared open to the general public on Saturday.
Various traditional foods and beverages were on display at the expo, including participation by corporates such as Ingwebu Breweries, ORAP and other institutions who displayed stalls from where they would interact with potential partners and customers.
Participants were taken through different traditional activities, food and beverage fairs. Participants were also introduced to new food recipes and cooking competitions with the guidance of cooks.
Despite a chain of bottle stores just a stone’s throw away and beer being sold within the centre as part of the exhibition, imbibers, however, preferred the traditionally prepared opaque beer, popularly known as Sgodo Khaya, which was being sold by an old lady, who was later nicknamed Madlamini, a name taken off Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s famous song, uMqombothi.
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Last to come was mountain climbing. This event was made more interesting as it included braaing while listening to music provided by the Drums of Peace, hosted by Babongile Sikhonjwa as braai master.
“We had so much fun in Matopos and we encourage the organiser (Butholezwe Nyathi) not to wait to host another event of such type, if only once a year. It has been an exciting experience,” said Sikhonjwa.
Event organiser Nyathi revealed that Amagugu would be hosting another event later this year.
“I have heard so many concerns during the day. Many people want to come here more often and we will do our best to do another event this year. We will furnish you with more details soon. We thank the people who came out in their numbers to support us. This was the most successful edition in three years. We attracted big numbers, we look forward to more of this,” said Nyathi.
