Botswana: With crowd-pulling and high-spirited events keeping most people on their toes since the onset of the festive season mid-December, organisers of the Serowe Christmas picnic broke the mould by instead hosting a laid-back and family-oriented event on the village’s outskirts.
Hosted by DJ Zynne at Raby Farms along the Serowe-Paje highway on Christmas Day, the picnic offered patrons a relaxed environment where they could unwind with their families, away from the buzz and bustle of Serowe.
Born Godiraone Setlhare, DJ Zynne said in an interview that with music festivals happening like clock-work in the past couple of days, the easy-going nature of the Christmas picnic gave fun-loving community members the opportunity to momentarily catch a breath before continuing with the spirited run towards ushering in another year.
He said it was also a platform for family and friends to rekindle relationships, especially since it was not always easy to meet in such environments during the course of the year.
In addition, DJ Zynne said the event was a way of empowering each other as Serowe youth and, in a way contributing to the growth of the village’s economy.
“This is not our first event; last year, on the same date, we held an All White themed music festival which featured international acts. This time around, we have Serowe DJs and artists only, and it’s no coincidence that our venue, Raby Farms, is also owned by people from Serowe,” he said.
He said they heeded calls to play a role in local economic empowerment; hence he had teamed up with the owners of Raby Farms and fellow artistes, among them Don Peplas, DJs King, NC and Swaps, as well as MCs Naomi and Mlaccos, to support each other whenever one of them hosted an event.
To Oarabile Tshimologo, who runs Raby Farms with her husband, Mogomotsi, the picnic was an opportune way of propping up and putting the work of local DJs and artists out there.
She said that driven by their zeal to empower locals, they gave priority to local entrepreneurs when it came to bookings of their venue, adding that for Raby Farms to have grown steadily over the years was due to the support mostly of locals, hence they, too had resolved to put them at the forefront.
“We’ve been doing different events with different Batswana, locals included, and we give priority to locals. We can safely say that we are where we are now because of the support of the people of Serowe. In fact, I can only say that they raised the children of Serowe. Everything here has been done with their support,” she explained.
Ms Tshimologo said their business is located just outside Serowe made it a hit, particularly with families who occasionally felt the urge to enjoy a cool breeze away from home.
“Our clients are mainly families who bring their children out for swimming. People come here to get to enjoy some fresh air away from the noise of the daily schedules,” she said.