Cultural festivals still relevant

University of Namibia (Unam) students say cultural festivals are important and relevant for the youth because they remind them of where they come from. They said this at the launch of Unam's career fair last week. Law student Amara Chukwu said cultural festivals are relevant because they keep the youth in touch with their traditional practices. “Cultural festivals are still relevant because they help us to practice our cultures. Cultural festivals are also very important because they remind us of who we are in a world where many of us are being influenced by the Western world and European cultures,” said Chukwu.Lereen Kaijere, a psychology student, said many cultures in Namibia and Africa are losing their practices to globalisation, but cultural festivals help young people to know more about their traditions. “In today's world, cultural festivals are still very important because many of our cultures are being diluted by what many of us young people follow and through cultural festivals we get reintegrated in our own cultures and get to learn more about them,” said Kaijere. Toivo Akuunda, another Unam student, says that cultural festivals instil pride in many young people especially pride about their cultures and traditional practices. “These festivals make us proud about whom we are and we also learn about our cultures and through such initiatives we get to retain information about our traditional practices,” said Akuunda.Sexon Hamutenya, a student from the Unam Khomasdal campus. Is of the opinion that cultural festivals remind the youth about where they come from and can be used as a guideline by the young people to figure out where they are headed in future. “Through cultural festivals we know where we come from and we can use that to know what our future looks like. Many of us focus on modernity but cultural festivals are rooted in our own cultural identity,” said Hamutenya.For Mandela Jason, cultural festivals are significant because they make it possible for people to be aware about each other's cultures and thus fight xenophobia and tribalism. “Cultural festivals have the potential of teaching us about one another. We can live better with each other and tolerate one another because through cultural festivals we get to learn about other people's cultural and traditional practices,” said Jason.Unam launched their cultural festival alongside their silver jubilee as the institution celebrates 25 years of existence. SHONA NGAVA

Cultural festivals still relevant

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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Cultural festivals still relevant

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-09

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