The Sunday News
Thobekisiwe Gumede Sunday Leisure Reporter
AS the festive season is slowly but surely approaching, local nightclubs have engaged in a fierce tussle for the small Bulawayo crowd and have since taken steps aimed at boosting clientele and patronage at their establishments while at the same time promoting local artistes and livening up the city’s otherwise sleepy nights. One of the night spots; The Lounge recently introduced Afro Nights with Zimbabwe’s multi- award-winning performing arts ensemble, Inkululeko Yabatsha School of Arts (Iyasa), where they perform old school acts with renowned Bulawayo showbiz personality Babongile Skhonjwa as host of the shows.
Other local nightclubs have also refused to be left out with drinking spots like Pub Lagondola, Club Forty40 and The Groove introducing other exciting programmes to lure customers.
Pub Lagondola is reportedly said to have introduced Rush hour sessions commonly known as omabhija which take place from Friday to Sunday. These Rush hour sessions are said to be more like the well known South African stokvels in which funds are contributed in rotation to buy beer.
Groove on the other hand introduced the karaoke nights which take place on Fridays. These sessions have seen jazz lovers flocking to the joint.
Club Forty40 has also introduced eStokveleni party night on Sundays, which they have also termed AmaSunday.
Iyasa director Nkululeko Dube said Afro nights were a way of brightening up Sunday nights which are usually dull with low business volumes.
“Traditionally Sundays have been known to be boring so this comes as a way of brightening up the day. I should say that Sundays are meant to be a day to relax and enjoy the last of the weekend break but we have seen that people are instead spending the day thinking about work and preparing for the week ahead.
“The show is not a new phenomenon especially to those who have been following Iyasa dating back. We have always had Sunday sessions in places like Windermere and Basement although we haven’t been doing them over the years,” said Dube.
Dube added that people have shown great interest in their shows and expresed hope that more people were going to attend them.
“So far the response is good and I can assure people that their Sundays will never be the same again,” he said.
One of the people who attended the sessions at Club Forty40 said it was a way of bringing back business to the clubs.
“It is a simple way of bringing back business to the various establishments. People could have taken their stokvels to other places if they wanted to but then holding them in pubs or clubs is more exciting and hence brings business to the places,” he said.
