Cell C Gospel Music Festival continues to soar

This past weekend I had the utmost pleasure of travelling to Bloemfontein, thanks to Cell C and the organisers of the Cell C Gospel Festival. We were whisked away in a mini-bus on Friday afternoon to witness the gospel music stars belt it out at the Bloemforntein leg of the popular music festival. The journey was one filled with lots of laughter, fun and pure entertainment as all the journalists shared different experiences.

On Saturday we woke up and enjoyed a sensational and traditional English breakfast in our 4-star lodge, then headed for Botshabelo a few hours later to revel in the sounds of worship from the musicians on the bill for the day. And enjoy we did. When we arrived, Botshabelo Sunrise was on stage, entertaining the audience with their smooth traditional gospel sounds. As more fans flocked in, the more energy was pumped into the life of the gospel, notably when a local gospel artist named Teboho greatly amused the audience with his unique blend of soulful music.

Keke, who I had wanted to see perform after hearing from a friend that he's an amazing artist, stomped into the stage and blew us away. Apart from his wonderful voice and inspirational messages, there was a sense of confidence and comfort in his set. The moves he made inspired my fellow journalists to get down too. It wasn't long until another legend, Paul Lechabala, provided his rendition of worship and praise through his awesome music.

A slight disappointment was the absense of Sechaba, who was featured on the line-up. That didn't wither the spirit of many though as Rebecca Malope made up for it with her sterling performance. It wasn't any different really from the other times I have seen the Queen of Gospel do her thing. She has the ability to command the stage, make it hers, in the process evoke an amazing energy from the audience. This energy is bounced between her and the audience in a rather natural and fluid manner. She's an entertainer of note, with the understanding of what it means to be a performer. As Rebecca was the headline act of the day, we made it back to our lodge where we cotinued with other festivities.

It was really an amazing experience which I will treasure and cherish for the rest of my life. Thank you to Mandla Motau and Cell C for making it possible. Oh, thanks Vinnie (media relations manager from Cell C), those goodie bags on our way back are fantastic, we appreciate everything you did to make our journey a stupendous one.

All roads lead to Umtata, for the Eastern Cape version of the Cell C Gopsel Festival on the 29th of November 2008. The tickets will be available at Shoprite shops soon. Go out there and have a blast, I did at another sold-out show this past weekend.