Botswana -
On Saturday 30th September Rainbow High School Steelpan Ensemble joined the rest of Botswana in staging the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Independence from the British. As is the norm, the event was filled with all the pomp and ceremony expected by the people. The three institutional orchestras were in their glory – the Police, the Prisons, and the Defence Force bands.
There was entertainment galore with most of the nation’s top artistes displaying their wares before a dignified and enthusiastic audience, inclusive of President Festus Mogae, members of Parliament, the Diplomatic Core, Civil Servants as well as John Public.
It was not the first time that the steelband had appeared at this renowned event but what made the occasion memorable was the guest appearance of the calypso bard – Gabby – Barbados’s numero uno
cultural ambassador, who was a specially invited guest. This must have been history in the making as it was the first time that the two art forms – pan/calypso- from the African Diaspora of the Caribbean had appeared on the same stage in Botswana with that of the indigenous manifestations
- a case of the chickens having come home to roost.
The steelband paraded under the banner of the National Youth Council of Botswana (BNYC).
From The News Desk of -
Hollis Clifton - Botswana, Africa
