From Soweto to the world, Kota Festival goes on a continental tour

Kota, Bunny chow, Sphatlho.

It goes by different names in different places across the country.

But what it is essentially is a hollowed-out half of an unsliced loaf of bread that is stuffed with various ingredients.

These ingredients usually include chips, a poultry item (vienna, polony etc.), cheese and if one’s spontaneous, fish, egg, atchaar also make the cut.

Now imagine a festival with a different explosive taste at every corner.

What started in 2019 as Jozi Kota Festival in Newtown at the Old Station is now growing bigger and better.

Not only has it become a foodies’ heaven, but it has empowered and uplifted entrepreneurs from townships.

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At the media launch on 31 January, the directors of the festival, Xolani Machele and Luvo Limba took us back to how the festival started.

“The reason why we started this festival is that we saw that students coming to Johannesburg from all over the country, even outside South Africa, can’t go to Kasi to grab a bite of a Kota because they’re not familiar with Soweto for the cuisine. We then thought maybe we can take the hood and bring it to town,” says Xolani. Ever since its inception, the two and their team have hosted four successful festivals, and they promise to host even more.

“We have a plan and a vision that we’re now starting this year. Our plan is that we want to host these festivals throughout the country and even take it to the world, as our slogan says, ‘Kota to the world’. We now have a tour that we have established.”

On 2 March, the tour commences in the East rand at Zig Zag café then it will proceed to Newtown on 6 April, Mpumalanga on 4 May, Durban on 1 June,  The Vaal on 31 August, Swaziland on 28 September, back to Newtown on 5 October and finally, Lesotho on 2 November.

Albany will be a headline sponsor for the festivals in Gauteng only and Score energy drink for all festivals and DJ Tira has jumped on board for the Durban one.

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On the day of the child-friendly festival in Newtown, about 400 jobs are created. Given this, Luvo adds that they also conduct workshops in the different cities ahead of the festivals to not only teach them how to apply to be a vendor at the festival but also how to capitalise on the opportunity.

At every festival though, ten loyal vendors from Gauteng will be touring to every festival to maintain the original flavour.

Representing Albany, Abongile Dzai says the 15-year-old brand will start contributing more meaningfully to the sustainable growth of the dynamic market.