Johannesburg’s highly anticipated creative extravaganza, Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival, makes a return and kicks off with a jam-packed and thrilling line-up of events set to run for four days.
The festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary and fired up by long-term partner Nando’s, runs from October 25 to 29 at its home at Constitution Hill.
A signature event of the Constitution Hill Museum and National Heritage site, the Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival was founded in 2012 to immortalise the memory of the youth who fought for their right to choose in the Soweto 1976 Uprising, affording youth of today the freedom to create.
The festival will wrap up on October 29 with the Sounds of Freedom Music Festival.
Curated to provide space for up-and-coming artists and new talent, the music festival this year is headlined by local megastars DBN Gogo, Mandla Spikiri, Blxckie, Big Zulu, Msaki, Lelowhatsgood, iPhupho L'ka Biko, MamThug, Kyotic, DJ Mr X, Bonj, Fif_Laaa, DJ Zero, Thabie, Melo B Jones, DJ Walker, Mo_Niks, and AN.D.
Kirsty Niehaus, who heads up Nando’s Creativity Portfolio, commented: “For Nando’s Creativity, Basha Uhuru is one of the highlights on our calendar every year. Basha in Casa has provided a platform to make more people aware of the festival, as well as extend the exposure that the emerging artists enjoy. We hope that this year we will see more students and educational institutions coming along, as well as busy young industry professionals."
"We are proud to host the 2022 Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival back at full scale after being impacted for the last two years due to the pandemic," said Constitution Hill CEO Dawn Robertson.
Robertson continued: “During this period, Basha Uhuru gave birth to The Creative Uprising – an always-on programme, including the Creative Hub that opened in 2020. Focused on development, collaboration and upskilling creatives, the work of the hub will help to grow and support the creative economy in Gauteng.”
The Basha Uhuru Freedom Festival Creative Week is an all-encompassing creative showcase, an opportunity for creatives and aspiring creatives to come together, be inspired, showcase their talents and feed their creativity.
Offering masterclasses, panel discussions, workshops and dialogues, the creative conference has been extended to offer more people the chance to attend. For the first time, people can choose to purchase tickets for specific events or each day of the festival or for the whole week, allowing them to select sessions more relevant to their interests.
The Star