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Tendai Rupapa Senior Reporter
First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has said the inaugural Zimbabwe Food and Culture Festival which roars into life today will give people an opportunity to embrace cultural diversity while wrestling the negative effects of cultural erosion and diffusion.

The First Lady, who is the Ambassador of Health and Child Care, also said the festival was meant to promote traditional diets so as to prevent non-communicable diseases.

The First Lady, who is the brains behind the festival, will officially open it tomorrow.

“The festival will showcase various traditional foods, native languages, arts, crafts, music and music instruments, fashion, fabric, furniture, traditional healing methods and medicine, cultural practices and social activities, among others,” she said.

“I have travelled to so many countries and some nations have embraced their culture and can be easily identified, during this festival I am hoping that many activities that we will be having will be our first step to recollecting our identity.”

She called upon the young and elderly to come out in their numbers and embrace their culture adding that celebrating common interest unites people.

“I hope that through the festival both the young and the old will be reconnected or introduced to a truly Zimbabwean way of life.

“In addition, the event will afford us an opportunity to embrace our cultural diversity, promote domestic tourism, promote cultural food consumption and healthy eating, promote social cohesion while bridging the cultural divide and more importantly preserve Zimbabwe’s cultural heritage,” she said.

She added that the festival will also complement Government’s efforts to enhance community engagement and increase community awareness on cultural issues.

“Cultural festivals and events are increasingly becoming arenas of discourse enabling people to express their views on wider cultural, social and political issues,” the First Lady said.

“In the face of modernisation and globalisation, Zimbabwe Food and Culture festival is an addition to existing efforts which seek to wrestle the negative effects of cultural erosion and cultural diffusion.”