A Weekend of Markets

Windhoek has this curious habit of having weekends go by without an event, a concert, a market or exhibition opening in sight, only to cram all the excitement and activity into one weekend a few months later.

Last weekend was one of these, and as we checked through our Facebook event invites, all the calendars and event boards from cultural institutions around the city, and thanks to good-old fashioned word of mouth, we found ourselves overwhelmed with decisions of what to do…

In the end, I opted for two markets, the FNCC’s ‘International Food and Craft Bazaar’ and the Tuuthikeni market which was held at Gutenberg Platz, were sure to be winners.

The Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre hosted its annual ‘International Food and Craft Bazaar’ which saw the different colours, crafts and cuisines from the wide variety of nationalities found in Windhoek come together.

The Association of Diplomatic Spouses of Namibia ensured that most of the embassies in the capital had a stall to showcase their country’s unique cuisine with some sticking to the traditional while others provided somewhat of a twist to the norm.

Spoiled for choice, I opted for two Kenyan samosas, a bowl of American beef chilli and good ‘ole can of Fanta orange from the FNCC’s La Bonne Table.

And in between the stalls, jumping castles and activities for the kiddies, I found myself enjoying the international music that kept the festivities going.

This year the bazaar introduced a ‘children’s passport’ where children could go to each country’s stall to receive a sticker to cover the box of the country/stall they ‘visited’.

With Angola, China, Venezuela, Kenya and many other countries represented, I’m sure a lot of children went home with their kiddie passports filled with more stickers than a normal passport book would ever allow.

This year, the bazaar collectively earned N$69 494, all of which will go to initiatives and projects that address both mental health needs and various educational projects. During the second half of the day, I made my way to the Tuuthikeni market to try out some Namibian dishes, like the ever-popular ‘Marathon Chicken’/ Ovambo chicken, and our very own southern African staple, braaivleis.

The different stalls sold everything from moringa powder products, notebooks covered in Batik fabrics, homemade fashions and jewellery to metal crafts, like the wire cars and bicycles we used to make when we were children and our parents couldn’t afford to buy us plastic toys.

I went home with a some incense, a pair of felt earrings that resemble a woman’s breasts by the ever-talented and quirky Julia Hango, a new found appreciation and understanding of powdered moringa leaves and their health benefits, and of course, a belly full of food from all over the world.