STANDARD BANK LUJU FOOD AND LIFESTYLE FESTIVAL 2026: WHERE AFRICAN CULTURE, FLAVOUR, FASHION AND MUSIC CAME ALIVE IN MALKERNS
Inside Eswatini’s most stylish celebration of food, fashion, music and African creativity
MALKERNS, ESWATINI — There are festivals you attend, and then there are festivals you experience.
For two unforgettable days, the Malkerns Valley became a canvas for African creativity as the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival 2026 brought together music, fashion, food, culture and some of the region’s most exciting creative minds.
Held on 1 and 2 August at House on Fire, this year's edition embraced the theme “A Return to the African Future” a concept that captured the essence of Luju itself: looking back to African heritage while confidently imagining what comes next.
From the food served at the culinary experiences to the designs on the runway, the artists commanding the stages and the guests turning the festival grounds into a moving fashion editorial, Luju 2026 was a celebration of Africa in all its complexity and beauty.
Luju is where heritage meets modernity, where African stories are not simply remembered, but reimagined.

A CELEBRATION THAT BEGINS WITH THE GUESTS
The Luju experience begins long before the first note is played.
It begins with the arrival.
Across the Malkerns grounds, guests embraced the opportunity to express themselves through fashion, colour and personality. Contemporary African prints, flowing silhouettes, statement accessories, tailored pieces and heritage-inspired looks transformed the festival grounds into an open-air showcase of personal style.
The atmosphere was effortlessly sophisticated yet distinctly African.
Among the guests were creatives, entrepreneurs, business leaders, food enthusiasts, fashion lovers, music fans and cultural tastemakers from Eswatini and across the region.
The diversity of the crowd is part of what makes Luju special. A chef could be found in conversation with a designer; a musician could be sharing a table with a business executive; and a young creative could find themselves networking with an established industry leader.
It is this intersection of culture and connection that has helped Luju grow beyond the traditional festival experience.

THE CULINARY STORY: NGUNI FOODWAYS
Food at Luju has never been merely about eating.
It is about memory.
It is about identity.
It is about the stories that survive through recipes, ingredients and generations.
This year's culinary programme, “Nguni Foodways,” explored the traditions and food heritage connecting Nguni communities across Southern Africa, while giving chefs the freedom to reinterpret those traditions through contemporary culinary techniques.
The result was a programme that felt both deeply rooted and refreshingly modern.
Guests were treated to experiences including Thobile Makhoyane's Nguni Mcombotsi Circle, while Zimbabwean chef Prince Sivalo Mahlangu explored ancestral ingredients, foraging and fermentation through Ancestral Forage & Ferments.
Acclaimed South African chef Mmabatho Molefe brought her distinctive interpretation of Nguni cuisine to the festival through an elevated fine-dining experience, while Eswatini's own Chef Sive Bhembe introduced an Nguni-inspired dessert experience.
The culinary programme was further enriched by Coco & J, whose Afroguese concept combined food, storytelling and music.
The result was an experience that demonstrated that African cuisine can honour tradition while embracing innovation.
At Luju, the plate becomes a passport into African memory.

FASHION: ONCE UPON A TIME
If food carried the stories of generations, fashion gave those stories a new silhouette.
This year's fashion theme, “Kwasukasukela – Once Upon a Time,” invited designers and festivalgoers to draw inspiration from African folklore, heritage, nature and stories passed down through generations.
The result was one of the weekend's most visually captivating experiences.


Acclaimed South African designer Mzukisi Mbane, founder and creative director of Imprint South Africa, brought an Afro-futurist perspective to the programme, perfectly complementing the festival's theme of reconnecting with African heritage while looking towards the future.
But perhaps one of the most significant aspects of this year's fashion programme was the spotlight placed on Eswatini's own designers.
Eleven local designers were given a platform to showcase their creativity, including Adonis Threads by Calvin DuPont, Black Degree by Kwenzie Zwane, Flow Wearz by Zikode Zwane, Philz Creations by Philile Nkwanyana, Rose Peti by Nothando Dlamini, Tash Creations by Thando Ndlangamandla, Uniq_uity by Sinakekelwe Mhlanga, Zerushi by Zen Shiba, Karo Textile by Nomfundo Simelane, Batfobile Edit by Batfobile Dlamini and Wels Craft by Welile Dlamini.
Their collections reflected an emerging generation of Eswatini designers who are increasingly confident in using fashion to communicate identity, culture and contemporary African expression.
The runway also extended into the audience, where festivalgoers interpreted the theme in their own distinctive ways.
This year's Best Dressed competition celebrated two guests who particularly captured the spirit of Luju fashion. Bafana Mavimbela was crowned Best Dressed Male, while Lindo Dlamini took the title of Best Dressed Female.
Both brought individuality, confidence and African-inspired creativity to their looks, earning them well-deserved recognition.
Congratulations to Bafana Mavimbela and Lindo Dlamini for setting the style standard at Luju 2026.
At Luju, fashion is not simply what you wear. It is the story you choose to tell.

MUSIC: THE SOUNDTRACK OF AN AFRICAN FUTURE
And then there was the music, the heartbeat of Luju.
Across the two days, the stages became meeting points for generations, genres and cultures, with performances that moved effortlessly between hip-hop, soul, jazz, maskandi, kwaito, Afro-soul and contemporary African sounds.
Nasty C brought the energy of contemporary African hip-hop to the Malkerns Valley, commanding the stage with the confidence and intensity that have made him one of the continent's most recognisable young artists.
His performance was complemented by the soulful storytelling of Wandile Mbambeni, whose folk and country influences created a more intimate musical atmosphere and offered audiences a moment to slow down and simply listen.
For many festivalgoers, Bholoja represented something particularly special. The Eswatini-born pioneer of Swazi Soul brought his distinctive blend of contemporary African folk and storytelling to the stage, delivering a performance rooted firmly in homegrown identity.
His presence captured something central to Luju's philosophy: Africa's creative future must remain connected to its own voice.
The cultural richness continued with Shwi Mantombazana, whose performance brought traditional Zulu musical storytelling to the festival and created a bridge between generations.
Mandisi Dyantyis added a sophisticated jazz dimension to the programme, giving music lovers an opportunity to appreciate the musicianship and emotional depth of his sound, while Tribal Natives brought a more energetic contemporary African rhythm to the festival grounds.
Then came the nostalgia.
The appearance of South African kwaito legend Zola 7 transported many festivalgoers back to an era of iconic township sounds and unforgettable songs. His performance connected generations, with longtime fans singing along while younger audiences experienced the energy of a musical era that continues to influence African popular culture.
One of the most talked-about moments of the weekend came when Liquideep joined forces to perform their new track live for the first time.
It was more than a performance. It was a Luju moment.
The audience had the privilege of witnessing it first live presentation, adding an element of exclusivity and surprise to an already impressive musical programme.
And as the weekend drew to a close, Zakes Bantwini brought the festival home with a commanding performance that transformed the final stretch of Luju into one enormous celebration.
The Grammy Award-winning artist delivered exactly the kind of high-energy finale the occasion demanded, leaving festivalgoers dancing, singing and reluctant to let the weekend end.
From Swazi Soul to kwaito, jazz and contemporary hip-hop, Luju's soundtrack proved that African music has no single sound

PRIVACII
By Timbuktu Library

A generation driven by limitless energy, intrigued with possibilities, optimistic rather than pessimistic, genre bending Swati born artist producer Privacii, symbolizes the new gen artist; equipped in multiple genres or creative expressions but business savy, yet very present in his young family's life.

In the age of digital art the value of the art has been declining but the buying power for art has not dwindled according to Privacii, a multi faceted artist himself, Privacii who's full name is 'Lungelo Vilakati' admits to the lack of economics in the digital era for the artist, yet points out the benefits the consumer has gained from having all the music or art in the palm of their hands.


A producer himself, Privacii has diversified his portfolio through his media production and distribution company Vinyl Avenue group, this broadens his perimeters of influence in the music space, allowing him to be off service to fellow artists and businesses. Vinyl Avenue was founded in 2020 but has already amassed strategic partnership deals with 'Symphonic' an American distribution company from Florida, Kaphonic Records in France and Proton LLC in Germany .

When speaking to Privacii you are reminded that knowledge is power, that research is the ultimate driving force behind his success, we have a long conversation about the seismic shift currently taking place in music globally, in the midst of him moving houses in Johannesburg, South Africa, he makes time and details how sync deals aside from his bookings as a Dj, have been his main source of income. "Despite my high streaming numbers on Spotify, YouTube and the likes, I've got less revenue from streams in comparison to music licensing/sync deals".

A Bachelor of arts in media communications and culture degree holder from Nelson Mandela University with 14 distinctions, Privacii mentions how he used to be entrenched in culture around campus, leading to vice presidency of Golden key and a member of the black management forum.  Laying groundwork for his genre bending production "African electronic dance music", when he explains the music genre; Privacii coins it as music built around African drums and precussions, but further uses the example of Black Panther as the aspiration the music is meant to inspire, adding how Sci-fi movies like star wars and star trek hardly starred black representation.

Part II

In the midst of our conversation Privacii mentions his love for hip hop too, revealing his connection to Hip Hop as the catalyst behind his altar ego 'LeVae', a vocal recording Hip Hop artist who's music centres around ambition, introspection and a vulnerability. The signs of a well thought out blueprint are visible, he giggles at the fact; despite his lack of popularity in the South African Hip Hop community commercially, it is still one of his most viable revenue streams of income, becuase of sync deals and the likes.

Privacii details how Hip Hop became a big part of his life, citing 'Stillmatic' by Nas as the album that drew him into the genre and 'One Mic' by Nas as his favourite song, although he was always a Kwaito and House lover, citing 'Brothers of Peace' as early influencers off his during early primary school years (grade one or grade two) . Making sense of the differentiation in split personalities, 'LeVae' jokingly recalls how he used to love books that had poetry in them, during his primary school book presentation days.

With a sense of humor that lights up a room and is contagious, Privacii details how the name LeVae came to be, owing it to his personality and name abbreviation, he's quick to remind one about his come up, as he details the projects he's released under his altar ego 'LeVae'. Recalling all the successes each of the three full length projects yielded (Read Between The Lines, Better Safe Than Sorry & Medicated) , nonchalant about it; he mentions his nominations at the 041 awards for Best Producer and Best Artist.

Privacii is set to retire 'LeVae' this year and is working on his last Hip Hop project, a sixteen track full length project which is meant to showcase all of LeVae's colleagues, and his collaborative friends in Hip Hop. Still without a title, the album won't signal a total end to the altar ego LeVae, "I will still give priority to feature verses and maybe focus on making music for movies because i have always wanted to score movies".

There is a sense that there's more to his decision to retire 'LeVae' than what some may deem quitting, "I also do copyright through Vinyl Avenue as part of my advertising protfolio, I've also been thinking of going back to radio or start looking into voice overs for animations". The motion is certainly high with LeVae, even though Privacii has taken the wheel and has become the breadwinner.

M. SETH: A MASTER OF SIMPLICITY
By Thandeka Khoza

MBABANE—The beauty of art is often found in the simple things. It really does not take much to create a masterpiece in many instances if you actually think about it. Case in point: the producer/rapper, Master Seth (or M. Seth for short). A huge proponent of “stick to what you know”! He goes about his creation process in the most basic way but still comes out with the most sonically pleasing productions, and its safe to say that this approach has served him well over the years.

Having started his music-making journey all way back in 2009 after completing high school, M. Seth, born Manqoba Dlamini, was known even back then for his quality beatmaking skills. “People would hear my music and then they would say ‘I like your stuff, I like his production, I wanna go there” he recalls. This would be as a result of him finally learning how to make original compositions on FL Studio (known as ‘Fruity Loops’ at the time). Prior to that, M. Seth had only been making intro mixes for dance battles on that software. A friend of his introduced him to the concept of making beats and from then on, Seth applied himself to perfecting that skill. Making original music garnered Seth the right amount of attention in his neighbourhood. Many aspiring rappers at the time would work with him, which included the likes of LK Baba and Lyrikal Busta, who would go on to become prominent figures in music within in the country.

M. Seth’s weapon of choice when is comes to creating is mainly a keen ear for music. “Music is all about the ear,” he says, “If it sounds nice, it sounds nice”. This very sentiment is how Seth even landed on the name ‘Eardrumzz Studios’ for his recording space to begin with. “My trademark was the bass. The baseline—it’s more like—it hits the eardrum,” he says, which is quite evident to anyone who listens to his music, as he is mainly a hip-hop and RnB producer—two genres of music known to be bass-heavy. From just that, he is able to make some of the cleanest and well-mastered songs in the local music industry. According to Seth, “Quality is key to everything you do. If you selling something, you have to sell quality and quality brings you more customers…I just give myself time in whatever that I do. I dedicate myself to it”.

With the landscape of music being the way that it is, it is comforting to know that there are still those capable of evolving while still maintaining the core of what makes them who they are. Seth, being the versatile artist that he is, he has been able to incorporate the newer sounds of the era like the ‘logdrum’ that is found in Amapiano beats. These are the sounds of his surroundings, seeing that he is in the Southern African region and a Skom native at that. It’s not a stretch for him to make those kind of beats or use elements found in that type of music in his own sound of RnB/Hip-hop. His awareness of the environment has even helped him detect and determine the rising trend of producers reverting to the older sounds. He notes, “We going back to the basics. That’s what I’m seeing now. We’re starting afresh”, and that is why, for him, trend-hopping is not something he would ever encourage. “As a producer or as an artist you have to stick to what you know. Yah, don’t try to flow the trends. New trends—yah—you have to master what you are well known of”, he says.

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