Mohalenyane Phakela

TOURISM destination, Afriski, will on Thursday host the second edition of its snow-themed music festival featuring some of South Africa’s biggest performing artists.

Afriski is one of the seven 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 3 050 metres above sea-level.

Held under the tagline “Rock-Out”, the festival will be held until Sunday and feature an array of South African artists and an American Daft Punk Tribute Duo.

Afri Ski events manager, Alexandre Torrao, this past week told Xpress People four stages would be erected at the festival catering for various musical tastes.

He said the event was meant to increase the influx of tourists into Lesotho in the form of destination and event tourism.

“The Afriski Winter Music Festival is a unique event because it is held in the mountains with a backdrop of snow,” said Torrao.

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

He said the festival’s primary target market was foreigners, although events catering locals would be incorporated in upcoming editions.

“From its inception last year, the Afriski Winter Music Festival was directed at the South African market. However, we will also target the affluent local market in the coming years as the brand grows,” Torrao said.

“With 98 percent of our guests coming from South Africa, our lineup has always been designed to cater for them to make financial sense.

“We have not included Lesotho artists because they are not as popular as South African acts and don’t appeal to the target market. This does not mean we will not see an increase in locals attending the festival and therefore a more predominant lineup from Lesotho in coming years.”

The line-up will include Shortstraw, Grassy Spark, Kyle Watson, Genaro Bonafede, House Hold Funk, DJ Wags, Rocca & Martini, Miami J’s, Royal K, Half ‘n’ Half, Shorty on Sax, Sisco, Umlambo, Pano, Bad Peter, Chico Muya, Simpl3 Stori3s and Black Sparrow among others. The festival will also include snowboarding among other activities.