MEC Pitsi Moloto enjoying the Marula drink.

15 February 2010 - LEDET MEC Pitsi Moloto in partnership with the MEC for department of Sport, Arts & Culture Joyce Mashamba, Limpopo Tourism & Parks and Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality officially launched and hosted the media to mark one of the most significant dates in the province, the annual Limpopo Marula Festival at Hans Merensky in Phalaborwa on Thursday, 28 January 2010. The festival which is due to take place from 20 - 27 February 2010 is centred around increasing market access and raising awareness on available Marula products, cultural and tourism products within the region involving enterprises and cooperatives from different areas in the province.

Held over three days in the picturesque town of Phalaborwa since 2005, this year the festival will take place over a period of seven days. Eight Thousand (8000) litres of Marula drink will be made available to the people throughout the festival. The Limpopo Marula festival, which comes just five months before South Africa hosts the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, is bound to attract many soccer fans and tourists from Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

The activities that will be taking place at the Festival include the Marula Golf Challenge that will be held at the renowned Hans Merensky Golf Estate on 26 and 27 February 2010. In the true tradition of golf and wildlife, the Marula Golf Challenge promises to be spectacular for the wildlife enthusiast and ardent golfer, whether professional or just playing for fun. The Marula Festival Half Marathon is scheduled for 27 February 2010 along the route that incorporates the Kruger National Park.

The Open Air Music Concert will feature local acts and acclaimed musicians across a wide spectrum of music and live performances. Scheduled for 27 February 2010, the open-air concert has been hailed as the culmination of the 7-day event, bringing young and old together in dance and song. The plan is to have a combination of a traditional dance competition and musical concert on the day. Freshly Ground, Thomas Chauke, Don Laka, Rhythmic Elements, Selaelo Selota, Teargas, Snot Kop Mocah and other various local artists are billed to perform at the show.

Since the idea of the Limpopo Marula Festival is to create, an authentic brand that can be embraced by everyone within the communities of Limpopo, this year the festival will again incorporate the Marula Festival Youth Rugby and Street Soccer. The youth rugby competition (commonly known as the Bulletjies) is to be staged at the Impala Park Stadium, throughout the duration of the festival, with the finals held on 28 February. As mentioned, this event will be staged side by side with Street Soccer to be used as a build up event for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup taking place in June.

This event will be incorporated into the Fast & Furious Futbal. There will also be an Exhibition of Cultural Products and a Tourism Career Fair. This event will be used to increase market access and raise awareness on available Marula products, cultural and tourism products within the region involving enterprises and cooperatives from Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe. This will present an opportunity to various Marula bi-products manufacturers, emerging tourism products as well as those cultural product owners to exhibit and sell their products during the festival. The fair will once again incorporate the tourism career fair aimed at raising awareness to youths about the various career opportunities in Tourism where different institutions will be invited to provide information.

Due to the diverse nature of the planned activities, Impala Park Stadium, Hans Merensky Golf Club and Hlolwa Lodge will be used. The Marula 4X4 Challenge will take place on 20 February 2010 followed by the Marula Golf Challenge which will start at 07:00 on the 26th and 06:00 on 27 February. The Marula Festival Half Marathon will start at 06:00 on the 27th of February and the Marula Open Air Music Concert will be from 15:00 to 24:00 on the 27th of February. The Exhibition of Cultural Products and Tourism Career Fair will start at 09:00. There will be refreshments on sale and rides for the festival goers. People are urged to wear their different traditional clothes.