The Sunday Mail
Prince Mushawevato
Delta Beverages has pulled the plug on the annual Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival. Information obtained by this publication reveals that the popular beer festival will not be held this year as the beverage company has shifted focus. Interestingly though, this decision comes as the company had in recent years diverted from the initial set-up where revellers were treated to a two-day binge in Harare’s Glamis Arena.
Then, it used to run under the Castle Lager brand and coincided with similar activities in the sub-region.
Organisers shifted the brand from Castle to Lion Lager and from a two-day event to a one-day shindig. Also, the festival nature that saw beer prices being reduced significantly had disappeared.
Instead, Delta will this year simply celebrate Castle Lager’s 120 years. Even the venue, Old Georgians Sports Club, says a lot about the company’s target market and type of party they are throwing.
Delta Beverages marketing executive Stanley Muchenje confirmed the development.
He said it was all being done in line with the listed company’s agenda.
“There is no Lion Lager Beer Festival this year. However, we are continuing with the annual festival celebrations. We are going to be holding the Castle 120 years celebrations in conjunction with the Italian Embassy,” said Muchenje
The Delta Beverages official further revealed that the annual festival slot was no longer a preserve of the Lion Lager brand.
“The theme of the year now determines the type of celebrations that take place in the period in question. Hence, this year, we are focusing on the Castle brand. We will each year be focusing on a different brand depending on what the company would have decided,” explained Muchenje.
The Castle Lager Summer Celebrations of 120 years will be held on October 10 and the event is being sponsored by Delta Beverages in conjunction with the Embassy of Italy. Jamaican singer Garfield Delano Spence aka Konshens is set to headline the celebrations.
Konshens allegedly pulled out of the Lion Lager festival last year after the Jamaican government warned their artistes against travelling to Africa due to the Ebola outbreak.
However, his camp has since confirmed on social media that the artiste is going to perform in Zimbabwe on October 10.
“Konshens will headline the gig supported by various local artistes among them Winky D,” said Muchenje.
“We decided to partner with the Italian Embassy because they had a function on the same day that we are going to have our celebrations. Besides, their Musica Festival is now in its third or fourth year and joining forces with them means we will have a bigger and better event.”
Italian artiste Marco Maggiore, DJ Dino Moran (South Africa), Beatenberg and Hope Masike are some of the artistes that are expected to grace the event.
Since its inauguration in Zimbabwe, the Lion Lager Beer Festival has featured several international artistes including Nigerian twins Peter and Paul Okoye of the group P-Square, D’banj, South African house outfit Uhuru, Jamaican reggae stars such as Cocoa Tea and Fantan Mojah, among many others.
