There are disappointments and there is the DStv Delicious International Food and Music Festival. The return of the highly anticipated festival after a two-year-long hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic was the event to attend – and organisers correctly milked fun lovers’ expectations to the last drop.
But what a disaster it turned out to be and whoever organized the event needs to hang their heads in shame.
Thousands flocked to the Kyalami Grand Pix Circuit, and judging by the traffic it is clear the venue is not yet ready to host the F1 after failing to control the logjam.
I’m sure those hideous queues that we had to stand in just to get in were longer than the queues when all South Africans first voted in 1994. Shwa is going to need the number of people who went to Dstv Delicious to show up for the 2024 elections. We must all play a part in changing the state of this country.
We had to endure all in the name of loving things and hoping the vibe was going to be the ish, but little did we know.
How does such a big event run out of a simple thing such as access tags? Howler ran out of VIP access tags and there was a further delay in getting in. Shouldn’t VIP treatment be a breeze? The hospitality was rather disappointing.
At that point, Shwa realised that it was better to have a general access ticket; either way that’s where the vibe is at, anyways.
Shwa understands an apology has been issued by the organisers but yours in gossip also needs to vent about her experience.
Apart from the problematic entrance and long food and drinks queues, I was appalled by the line-up of performers on the main stage. The Major League DJs also did their thing, but how does it make sense that Msaki only got to perform one song?
Hosting the main stage was Lawrence Maleka and Anele Mdoda, who tried to do a stellar job. At that point, I felt like DStv should give Maleka a chance to host all their events.
Well, the ambassadors of Dstv, Bontle Modiselle and Robot Boii, shared the Channel O Drip stage, which I heard was the place to be rather than the main stage.
The disappointing part was that the two stages were so far apart, but I’m also glad they did that because were the statges closer to each other it would have caused a stampede.
Why were the kwaito legends only given 30 minutes to perform but there was plenty time in between the acts for those hideous DStv adverts. Who plays adverts at a festival? You can’t do that.
Although the second day was better than the first, Shwa believes the highlight of the event for festival goers was the performances by international headline artists Burna Boy, Babyface and Angie Stone – many were disappointed by the seemingly poor planning by the event organisers.
Yes, we all saw the African giant Burna Boy, but at what cost?
Let’s also talk about the fights that suddenly broke out. Where was security? I mean these fights can easily turn into stampedes if not sorted out immediately. Not to mention the crime rate outside the gates and the dodgy tunnel. How can JMPD tell people to request for Ubers at a secluded place?
At the festival, Shwa was lucky to actually spot favourites such as Thebe, Liesl and Musa Mthombeni, Primo,Seekay, Ntobeko Sishi, Thando Thabethe, Lamiez Holworthy, Thembi Seete, Mbombo twins, Blue and Brown Mbombo.
One would rather have spent the weekend at Mai Mai than witness such hogwash.
Take yourselves seriously next time – that is if Shwa ever sets foot at such a badly organised event again. My township stokvel ladies can organise a better event.
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