ETHEKWINI Mayor Zandile Gumede says she is excited to be hosting the Essence Festival which opens at the ICC and Durban Exhibition Centre on 26 September and runs until 1 October.
Amongst the international guests expected to jet into Durban for the Festival are Grammy award-winning musician Jill Scott and the renowned Bishop T.D Jakes.
Bishop T.D Jakes’ sessions on business on Saturday morning and the Essence All Star Gospel Concert on Sunday are expected to be crowd-pullers.
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“I’ll be teaching principles that will escalate your business, your faith and put you in alignment with a systematic and pragmatic approach to help you take your business to the next level. So I urge all the entrepreneurs to join me,” said Jakes.
Tickets to his session are still available for purchase at Computicket.
Officials from eThekwini Municipality confirmed having sold out all available tickets to The Women Economic Empowerment Engagement session featuring Johanna Mukoki, Lindiwe Rakharebe, Bongi Shangase and Rapaleng Rabana; and the Durban Business Fair Business Conference with Dr. Judy Dlamini, Thulisile Mhlungu, Darrin L. Harris and Vivian Reddy.
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Festival ambassador Nomzamo Mbatha, who will be Programme Director for some of the festivities, hopes the festival “will bring young people and women [to Durban’s shores], because it is a fun and safe space to be in. It empowers women.”
According to a city media release, last year, the festival drew over 60,000 attendees from across the country and injected more than R230 million into the province’s GDP.
The public can still join the fun and activities, tickets remain available for a talk by activist Reverend Al Sharpton and a concert headlined by Jill Scott, Nasty C, Babes Wodumo, MiCasa and Khuzani. Some sessions of the festival are free and open to the public. For the full schedule visit www.essence.com/durban.
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