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If you were one of those who attended the hugely successful Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival at Old Hararians Sports Club by now, you are probably still nursing your hangover — downing gallons and gallons of ice water or having a hot peri peri chicken to rejuvenate yourself and you can only blame it on liquor.

There were no low lights at this year’s edition of the popular beer festival, which has grown in both stature and attendance.
An estimated 6 000 strong crowd thronged the venue to witness the fete and thousands more were turned away after the tickets were sold out.
A stampede was inevitable but thanks to the ZRP who provided the much-needed security and order, everything went according to plan.

The organisers, Delta Beverages through their Lion Lager brand, worked flat out to ensure that there was enough food and drinks for everyone.
The festival kicked off at midday with several activities lined up including a tug-of-war between models and heavily built women and in-between there were games like volleyball and snooker as well as battle of “gochi gochi” where chefs competed for the best braai and barbecue.

Lucky guzzlers were also given six-packs of the Lion Lager absolutely for free.
One of the most memorable events was when Nkunzie Production, who normally do road shows for different companies took to the stage.
Through various games and on-spot giveaways, the group livened the proceedings, which were spiced up by Kudzi Marudza and Witness Matema of Power FM who were the masters of ceremonies.

The music peaked up when young Madiz graced the stage dressed in a designer outfit with four of his dancers. Of course, he played backtracks and his performance was warmly received by the crowd.
Later, it was time for the battled of the DJs and seven of them all from clubs in Harare and Bulawayo made their presence felt as they played hit after hit much to the delight of music lovers.
However, there was a bit of disappointment when the Bulawayo-based DJ, Woo Kid failed to make it into the top three.

DJ Dee Vine, perhaps the most experienced club DJ on the day showed his knowledge of music by playing all the crowd favourites while DJ Naida, the only female DJ came second. In third place was DJ Storm.
And then came Sulumani Chimbetu — the only sungura artiste on the night — who put up a good show before an appreciative crowd.
Stunner’s performance was riveting and you could see that the youn man is talented. The inclusion of MC Chita to his act injected energy on stage.

Up next was Winky D, aka Bigiman, who came fired up and sent the crowd into a frenzy with his ninja inspired outfit. Like the true artiste that he is, Winky D brought with him energy and charisma on stage.
He played all the hits including the hit “Musarova Bigiman” currently receiving heavy rotation on the airwaves. There is no doubt he has endeared himself well with fans and youths love him for what he is.
Jamaican reggae/dancehall king Beenie Man emerged on stage, amid a flurry of fireworks that lit up the skies.

Indeed, Beenie Man enjoyed himself and his delivery on stage was tiptop. He took fans down memory lane playing hits such as “Who Am I”, which was a dancefloor filler in Zimbabwe.
When he performed the duet, “Feel It Boy” with our very own Cindy Munyavi, who replaced Janet Jackson, the original singer, it was absolute magic.
Cindy hit all the right chords as though it was Janet herself.

Who could doubt that there is so much talent in Zimbabwe?
Winky D could have stolen the show from Beenie Man had the Jamaican king not been an international performer.

Of course, Beenie Man knows how to treat his fans and his version of the dance hit “I Got A Feelin” by the Black Eyed Peas as well as Alicia Key’s “No One” made his performance great.
To most people the Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival was better in terms of organisation and logistics than the Real Deal concert which featured Akon and Sean Paul.