Soweto Festival Expo 2011

Friday 23rd-Sunday 25th September 2011

The Soweto Festival Expo is one of the largest events of its kind in the country and has attracted sponsorship before from W&RSETA, the City of Joburg, Absa, Standard Bank, Shoprite, Brandhouse, the University of Johannesburg, SABC, etv, Willards, the Gauteng City Region Academy and 46664, to name but a few. Now in its seventh year, the Soweto Festival Expo is taking a major step forward in 2011 with the move to the Joburg Expo Centre at Nasrec. This has become necessary due to the expansion of the event, and the need to offer activities which the former venue, the UJ Soweto Campus, could not accommodate. It is the principal event in Soweto that draws together business, SMMEs, youth, community organisations, consumers and all the people of Soweto on an annual basis to celebrate Soweto’s richness and diversity. It’s an event not to be missed.

The original Soweto Homemakers Festival ran from 1983 to 1985 as a joint venture between Adele Lucas Promotions and the Soweto Chamber of Commerce. In 2005 it was revived as the Soweto Festival and Absa took on the naming rights, which they retained in 2006. From 2007 to 2009 the City of Joburg was the main sponsor, and in 2010 the W&RSETA assumed the role of Platinum Sponsor. In 2009 ALP brought the Greater Soweto Business Forum in as a 49% partner in the project.

The Expo’s mission is to contribute to the long term development of greater Soweto’s economy and community. Soweto residents’ annual retail spending power tops R8 billion but only ¼ of this finds its way back into the hands of Sowetans. The Festival Expo provides a vehicle for businesses in Soweto, South Africa’s largest township, to reclaim their rightful share of this spending by placing local enterprises and SMMEs side by side with some of the country’s leading brands.

The new venue ,the Nasrec precinct which is adjacent to the FNB Stadium, now regarded as part of Soweto, due to its proximity to Diepkloof,  offers unrivalled facilities for exhibitors, entertainment and visitors and opens up a host of possibilities for new activities at the Soweto Expo.

“We have seen considerable growth in the event over the past three years, and are grateful to UJ for accommodating us during that time” said ALP Managing Director Toby Chance and GSBF Chairman Churchill Mrasi in a joint statement to mark the move to Nasrec. “With the number of SMMEs and other exhibitors steadily increasing we found that UJ did not have sufficient space for our needs. We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the management of Expo Centre, which will become our home for at least the next three years” the statement continued.

“We at the Johannesburg Expo Centre are delighted to be the new home of the Soweto Festival Expo” added Craig Newman, CEO of Expo Centre. “We are conveniently located on all three major arterial highways and in addition to that, the refurbishment of the Expo Centre and the Nasrec Precinct has proved to be a winning formula as we continue to experience an increase in the quantity and quality of visitors making use of our facilities. We look forward Soweto Festival Expo 2011 and are very excited about working with the organisers to grow the show in the years to come.”