Local Marula festival to take tips from Oktoberfest

The Limpopo delegation, which left the province for Germany on Tuesday, aims to enter partnerships in the festival's host city, Munich, that will help grow the annual Marula Festival in Phalaborwa.

“It is our intention to promote the annual Marula Festival as one of the leading tourism and heritage events on our calendar," said economic development, environment and tourism MEC, Collins Chabane, who is leading the delegation.

The Marula Festival started in 2005; and the next festival is scheduled for 29 February 2008.

The marula fruit, which is said to contain more vitamin C than oranges, is turned into beer, liqueur, mampoer and beauty products.

The marula is also known as the Fertility Fruit or Marriage Tree. Local folklore has it that parts of the tree can be used to determine a baby's sex, ward off bad spirits and to make throwing dice for use by traditional healers.

Baboons, monkey and elephant also love the fruit.

Elephants travel long distances to indulge in this uniquely African fruit, sometimes getting drunk if they eat fruit which has fallen on the ground and fermented.

Department spokesperson Masoga Lehlogonolo said tourism was considered a long-term job creator that will replace Phalaborwa's declining mining industry.

He said Phalaborwa had enormous tourism potential because of its close proximity to the Kruger National Park and the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which includes reserves in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

He said a partnership between Munich and Phalaborwa would focus on international marketing, beer brewing technology and research on creating marula bi-products such as oils, soft drinks, nectars and teas.

The Oktoberfest, which attracts over 6 million people from all around the world each year, starts on Saturday, 22 September, and ends on 7 October.

It dates back to 1810 when it was first held in honour of the marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

The German schools in Pretoria and Johannesburg also host annual Oktoberfests, around the same time of year.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews