A taste of Soweto at the Durban July
Local DJs and comedians to perform at the ‘kasi’ marquee
THE FIRST ever Soweto VIP marquee will be bringing a taste of South Africa’s most famous township to the Vodacom Durban July this weekend.
Tebogo Phiri, owner of the popular Dobsonville pub Disoufeng, promises that the experience will be like no other.
“We are making history. A lot of Joburgers go down for the July every year and they want to party in one central place. Last year, I spotted a lot of people at one of the big after-parties at the July, and a lot of them were from Soweto,” said Phiri.
He said he decided to risk it because he saw a gap in the market for something that was authentically kasi at the July.
“We have a database of about 20 000 people, most of whom travel a lot. This is how the idea came about.”
He hosted a weekend-away package last year for Joburgers who wanted to be at the July, offering people access to the various parties in and around Durban.
When he eventually took the plunge in November to check whether he could have a marquee at this year’s July, he had to wait for a while before the organisers got back to him.
“I just needed to do it. I lost hope when I didn’t hear from them for a while, but towards January I got the space for the marquee.
“I had put up a post about having a Soweto marquee at the Durban July on Facebook and it got so many likes and people were asking why this hadn’t already happened,” said Phiri.
After getting the responses and approval to host, he started working on the plans and getting sponsors to make sure the event would be one for the history books.
The entertainment line-up for Saturday will boast some of the best DJs from Soweto and also include two live performances and comedy acts.
“We didn’t want to go for the typical big names because it would take away from the flavour we are trying to bring,” he noted.
Part of the package includes a Friday pre-party at Vivo Lounge in uMhlanga and a sundowners event on Sunday at The Joint Beach Cafe at South Beach.
Packages start from R2650 per person, and bookings can be made by emailing: bookings@ disoufengpub.co.za