SWAZILAND: MTN Bushfire Festival Back For 2017

Swaziland is well known for its stunning landscapes and exciting game but also for its festivals. MTN Bushfire, Swaziland’s internationally acclaimed music and arts festival invites you to Bring Your Fire and experience three unforgettable days celebrating music, arts and performance whilst promoting social responsibility.

Named Africa’s Top Festival by the BBC and by CNN as one of the 7 African must-attend festivals, MTN Bushfire is thrilled to announce a range of incredibly talented and loved artists from across African and the world – all of whom will perform on the MTN Bushfire main stage.

Taking place from May 26th – 28th 2017 it is once again living up to its reputation as Africa’s largest and most inclusive world music festival.

The MTN Bushfire 2017 line-up is arguably the most exciting, dynamic and global list to date – including African legend Hugh Masekela, South African global exports GoodLuck, pan-African stars such as Jah Prayzah and Faada Freddy along with a whole host of acts close to home and from across the globe.

MTN BUSHFIRE is Swaziland’s annual meeting for a multi-generational global community of more than 20,000 “Bring their firers” to experience the three day event renowned for eclectic and multi-dimensional programming rooted in world music and including a compelling line-up of theatre, poetry, dance, art exhibits & installations, story-telling, puppetry, film, and themed workshops.

A vibrant handcraft market, family-friendly performances & KidZone as well as the recently introduced interactive art and dialogue space, The Barn, all combine to create a magical three-day entertainment experience.

The festival venue is a unique and innovative space, the House on Fire, situated in the Malkerns Valley, just 30 min drive from Swaziland’s capital, Mbabane.

The venue grounds comprise an art gallery, an amphitheatre and a large outdoor stage. Each aspect of the venue is given a mesmerising quality by the fairy tale-like stone building structures and the rolling valley scenery which encompasses the site.

Donating 100% of its profits to orphans through the Swazi NGO Young Heroes, and 100% of merchandise proceeds to the non-profit rural community development project Gone Rural boMake (www.goneruralbomake.org), MTN BUSHFIRE’s call to action of #BringYourFire has never been stronger.

SWAZILAND: Beautiful Swaziland

Africa’s smallest country is perhaps one of the most beautiful. The Kingdom of Swaziland boasts magnificent scenery from rivers, waterfalls and gorges, unique rock formations, which are among the world’s most ancient, lush and fertile valleys, plus typical African bush.

Made up of the Highveld, Middleveld and Lowveld, Swaziland’s terrain changes dramatically. The Highveld is comprised of hills, waterfalls and great buttresses of ancient rock, giving the country a dramatic and impressive landscape. The Middleveld is made up of the bush and the savanna. The Lowveld is bush country sitting as low as 21m above sea level. Although much drier than the other areas, it is home to vast, heavily irrigated sugar estates.

There is so much scenery to discover and enjoy in Swaziland. The striking Nyonyane Mountain, where ancient Bushmen once lived and where Swazi Royal graves are situated, has an exposed granite peak known as the Execution Rock, due to the graves.
Along the eastern border, forming a natural barrier between Swaziland and Mozambique, is a line of rugged volcanic hills known as the Lubombos, which rise abruptly from the Lowveld to about 600meters. These hills are made up of a number of ridges broken by deep gorges where the Usutu, Ngwavuma and Mbuluzi rivers carve through to the Indian Ocean.

The Mahamba Gorge, which lies west of Nhlangano, offers excellent photographic opportunities, and no wonder. Giant hamerkop nests are found in the forest on the short, easy trail to the "beach" on the river banks.

Another beauty of Swaziland, just one hour south of Mbabane through the fertile and beautiful Malkerns Valley to Mankayane, one of Swaziland’s oldest towns, one will reach the most ruggedly striking areas of Swaziland. The Ngwempisi River has sliced its way through the sandstone and shale of the Ntfungulu Hills to create the Ngwempisi Gorge. Here flatlands and undulating hills range from a mere 50 meters to 800 meters above sea level.

One of Swaziland’s most amazing natural phenomenons is Sibebe Rock, the largest exposed granite pluton in the world. Although different in their geology, Sibebe Rock is second only to Ayers Rock in Australia as the largest freestanding rock in the world.

Swaziland is a strikingly beautiful country and visitors to this African gem will always have a memorable and satisfying experience. The stunning landscapes of mountains and valleys, forests and plains, plus wildlife reserves across the country that are home to The Big Five, this nation is all that’s best about Africa in one small but perfectly formed and welcoming country.