By Patient Bunga
WINDHOEK, March 12 — The Namibia Wika Festival, a German tradition that was brought to South Africa in the 1950s, is now an annual event celebrated in Windhoek, Namibia. The festival, which is now 69 years old, aims to celebrate German culture and showcase it to the rest of Namibia. The festival is headed by Holger Mansell, the president of Wika, who has been leading the event for the past 14 years.
One of the main goals of the festival is to engage the youth in the celebration of German culture. To achieve this goal, the festival has a youth carnival and a children’s carnival, which are both designed to ensure that the future of the carnival is guaranteed. The festival committee recognizes the need to have young people coming in to carry on the tradition, and they have been successful in involving the youth in the carnival.
Princess Maria, the reigning Princess of the festival, has played a crucial role in engaging the youth and making them part of the carnival. She and the committee have worked hard to ensure that the youth are involved in the carnival and that they have a great time. The theme of last year’s carnival was “Who Loves Lives?” and Princess Maria took it very seriously to bring joy to everyone and have a fantastic time with the public.
The festival has encountered some challenges in engaging the youth, especially with the rise of Western culture, which has drawn many young people away from their cultural traditions and values. However, the committee has been successful in attracting more youth to the carnival. Last year, 700 young people were part of the German carnival, a significant increase from previous years.
The festival committee recognizes that culture is a thing that everybody brings along over a long time span in history. Carnival culture, in particular, is a culture of joy, fun, and celebration. The festival is not a strict cultural entity that follows strict rules but is rather an event where people can come together, have fun, and enlighten their souls. The festival committee has adapted the carnival to the Namibian scenario, and they have enlightened a lot on the strict rules that were previously attached to the carnival.
The upcoming festival promises to be a celebration of not just German culture but also a commemoration of other cultural groups in Namibia. The festival committee invites everyone to join them on Saturday, the 25th of March, from 11 o’clock when they have the street procession through Independence Avenue. The festival committee aims to bring the carnival to the people, and the international evening is a platform for showcasing other cultures in Namibia.
In conclusion, the Namibia Wika Festival is a celebration of German culture and a platform for engaging the youth in the celebration of their cultural heritage. The festival has successfully adapted to the Namibian scenario and has invited everyone to join them in the celebration of culture and tradition. – Namibia Daily News
