Afriski to hold snow themed festival

Mohalenyane Phakela

TOURISM destination, Afriski, is set to host its first ever snow themed music festival in August featuring some of South Africa’s biggest performing artists.

Afriski is one of only two ski resorts on the African continent and the only one in Lesotho. Located in Mahlasela in the outskirts of the Butha Buthe district, Afriski is the highest ski-resort in Africa at 3050 metres above sea-level.

The resort attracts thousands of visitors who include skiers, snowboarders and spectators alike to its snowy slopes in the majestic Maluti Mountains during the winter months every year.

Various ski and snowboarding competitions are held at Afriski, attracting many top international competitors.

Dubbed Afriski Winter Music Festival, the fete will run from 27 – 30 August. According to festival director, Alexandre Torrao, the event will feature top bands and DJs from South Africa.

Starting off on Thursday night, when guests would be arriving, the festival will continue till Saturday with the bands and DJs performing during the day and night.

“Africa has the potential for many entertainment options, and that is why we decided to invest in the Afriski Winter Music Festival to create an experience-based event,” said Torrao.

“It will be unique to southern Africa and Lesotho because it is the only snow-themed music festival.

“Our mission is to increase the influx of tourists into Lesotho in the form of destination and event tourism.”

The festival, he added, is also meant for adrenaline junkies who have dreamt of snowboarding or skiing down a snowy mountain into an epic music festival featuring some of South Africa’s hottest artists.

“In terms of our target market, this year we aim to attract resort guests and Club Maluti members as well as affluent Basotho between the ages of 24 and 44,” Torrao said.

“What people can expect from the event is a huge festival environment where partying and having a good time is the only rule.

“In terms of artists, this year we focused on performers who are popular in South Africa. However, we are looking at two new dates for next year with a wider variety of musicians from Lesotho and South Africa offering the public a wide array of choices in terms of music and performances.”

He said revellers would be “blown away by the electrifying bands and sublime DJs” throughout the festival weekend. These include Iscream and the Chocolate Stix, The Kiffness (DJ Set) and Cape Town trio Chris Taylor, Jak Skandi and Viktoria kicking off on the decks.

Rising Johannesburg bands The Motherland and The Sextons will entertain patrons with their unique sounds while DJs’ “Way Back When”, Mehow and Black Sparrow will round off the weekend’s entertainment.

“In terms of sports activities, we will have snowboarding and skiing available every day for beginners, intermediate and experts,” said Torrao.

“We also have the fun stuff planned including bum-boarding, tubing, paintball and Saturday’s ‘pond skimming’ competition. All of this will be done in the snow and in the sun!

“Afriski Winter Music Festival is happening for the very first time and it will be held twice a year (June and August). We will also be launching a Summer Music Festival at Afriski with details soon to be announced.”

The packages for the festival start from M3 500 with all packages including three nights’ accommodation, a M2 000 food and beverage card, a festival pass and free activity vouchers.