Fifth Nedbank Swakop Food Festival biggest to date
By Adolf Kaure.
The organiser of the Nedbank Swakop Food Festival, Dalene Stephanus said that this year’s event which took place at the coastal town earlier in December exceeded all expectations.
Speaking in a recent interview, Stephanus said that the 2023 Nedbank Swakop Food Festival, as the fifth installment of the annual festival was the biggest ever. “This is our biggest Nedbank Swakop Food Festival to date based on our estimation. It exceeded all our expectations,” she said.
The were approximately 4000 people who attended the festival over the three days from 14 -16 December).
Thirty-nine vendors selling a variety of food from seafood and braai to to corn dogs, sushi, and Asian food as well as desserts, made sure that ‘no taste bud was left out’. “We are vey pleased that the people came out this strong. It really represented our goals so we are really happy,” said Stephanus.
Some of the aspects of the festival which were introduced this year include the Nedbank Activity Lounge and the DsTV Demo Kitchen, where chefs like Fortune Kangueehi and Musa Mhlasi from Botswana displayed their cooking skills.
“This year we were happy to introduce the Nedbank Activity Lounge, where we could have some interactions with our clients to have a good time and chill. It was really, really good.”
“We also re-introduced the Demo Kitchen. It was very popular, but we want to grow that aspect of the festival because we just don’t want vendor sales. We also want to show how food is prepared and enable interactions between the chefs and the public. We want to really grow in that aspect.”
“Although we had the very popular Nigerian food from Mrs Okaso, we want to have more continental cuisine as well,” she said.
Well-known DJs like GMG, Musketeer, Mapiano and Mickey G were on the decks in the DJ booth to set a memorable atmosphere for all in attendance.
With coastal temperatures getting ideally warmer, Swakopmund was abuzz with activity with many flocking in from Windhoek and other parts of Namibia as well as neighbouring countries like Botswana and South Africa.
Stephanus expressed her gratitude to all who made the the event a success.
“I want to thank all the sponsors, all the vendors and everyone that visited. They should look out for a lot of new things happening next year at the festival.”
Over 4000 people attended the 2023 Nedbank Swakop Food Festival between 14 and 16 December. (Photograph by Adolf Kaure)
