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The Olufuko cultural festival in Namibia

The olufuko festival is celebrated in the northen part of Namibia, in the town of Outapi which is in the Omusati region.This is a very unique and important festival in Namibia, especialy to the owambo poeple because it is putting empasis on trade fair expo.It was held under the theme"omuthigululwakalo; edhilo lyetu, uuntsa wetu" which translates to: our cultre, our heritage, our pride. The olufuko was attended by Namibian founding President DR Sam Nujoma, president HifikePunye Pohamba, government ministers,MP's,traditional authorities and some 2000 other people interested in the festival The main aim of the festival is to develope the local economy and to give a platform for the local people to show-case their unique talents and their traditional values.the other aim is to also attract different people from within Namibia and other people from different parts of the world to come together and witness a very unique Namibian cultural festival and to make the Northern parts of Namibia yet another tourist attraction.The organisers say they want to promote cultural tourism,reduce teenage pregnancies and preseve the positive custom of avoiding sex before marriage as well as teach young women self respect and dignity. The festiva focuses on the following espects:

• agriculture
• tradition and culture
• arts and
• business an fair expo.

The agricultural sector

A large portion of the Omusati regional population resides in rural areas, while a very few resides in urban areas. Therfore the festival focuses mostly on agriculture which is mostly livestock and crop production. agriculture is a very important espect to the Owambo people, they have a proverb that says"A man's wealth is not measured by how much money he has but by how many cattle or livestock he owns" this shows how important agriculture really is in this part of the country. The objectives of the agricultural sector at the festval are:

1. To promote new ways of food production in line with the effects of climate change
2. To increase food security
3. for farmers to bring products e.g crops, livestock and to showcase and sell
4. To promote aquaculture

The tradition and cultural sector

The traditional wedding(Olufuko) means wedding which came from the word "okufukala" in oshiwambo. The olufuko is an Oshiwambo traditional practice which last for seven days and serves as a pupose in the process that turns girls and young women into brides without grooms. Olufuko was last held in 1932, which is 80 years ago.the practise was banned by the churches, saying it is a practise against christianity..according to tradition, the girls connot reject olufuko, becouse it is believed that if they reject it, it could bring a curse on them which in many cases is believed to be either dearth or unwanted pregnancies.Elwin Namakalu, Outapi Town Coucil Chieve Executive officer said prior to the event," the participants were asked to sign consent forms". he further added that"the olufuko festival preperatory comitee is open to any ideasif interested people wish to make further sugestions". The people get the opportunity to showsace the traditional items such as the traditional cosmetics namely: oshizimba, omagadhi goongombe, onguma and omaavi yeenhanga etc. and traditional foods and drinks such as oomalovu giilya,owalende and omagongo, which is known and respected by many owambo people. cultural entertainment is a vital and very important part of the festival.

The arts, business and tade fair sector

The art and craft section will show arts such as hand made crafts made by the local people themselves, visual arts and music (okambulumbwa, okayaayaa)etc.The business and trade fair expo section will have a wide display of various business and innstitutions. Industries and firms will have all kinds of machinery related to agriculture e.g machines for ploughing, harvesting etc. Many Namiian enterprenuors use this opportunity to showcase their businesses, local people also get to benefit by selling traditional items like milet, beans, watemelons,sorgum and mahangu.