ONDANGWA: The Ondonga Traditional Authority will host the 2024 annual Omagongo Festival at Onambango Palace in the Oshana region on 25 May.

This will be the second time that the Ondonga Traditional Authority will be hosting the Omagongo Festival since its inception in 2001.

In a media statement on Monday, Chairperson of the 2024 Omagongo Festival Organizing Committee Nahas Angula said every year, the festival is hosted on a rotational basis by the eight Northern Traditional Authorities to celebrate the Marula fruit harvest.

Last year, the festival was held by the Ombalantu Traditional Authority at the Ohamautsi village in the Omusati Region.

‘The event serves as a platform to celebrate Aawambo culture and foster unity amongst the Namibian people. Every year, the leader and the Traditional Authority of the community selected that year hosts the Omagongo Festival,’ he said.

He added that the public also forms part of the two-day festival, often attended by the country’s President and various leaders at tra
ditional, political, business and community levels.

Angula further indicated that the event holds significance as it was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2015.

This year’s Omagongo Festival is dedicated to forging unity amongst various Namibian cultures and being deliberate about cultural preservation by including the youth, he concluded.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency