A culinary awakening at Luju fest 2025

THIS weekend, the Stand¬ard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival will come alive with flavour, culture and connection, as it unveils a deeply rooted and forward-thinking culinary programme. The 2025 edition promises to be a feast for the senses, anchored by this year’s evocative theme: “The Forgotten Seeds: A Return to the African Future.”
More than just a celebration of food, this year’s culinary pro¬gramme invites festivalgoers to embark on a sensory journey into the heart of indigenous knowledge systems. ‘The Forgotten Seeds’ theme seeks to revive and reclaim ancestral wisdom, shining a spotlight on traditional African ingredients.
Food curator and storytell¬er Onezwa Mbola, Founder of Emandulo, embodies this ethos. Her work is a tribute to culturally rooted food systems, bridging the past and present through power¬ful storytelling and nourishment. 
Tomorrow, festivalgoers can experience Onezwa’s passion first-hand in a live demo at the Amphitheatre Culinary Hive. 
Combination
She will present a soulful dish pairing fish and sorghum, a powerful combination that blends the ocean’s gifts with one of Africa’s most ancient grains. For Onezwa, fish represents more than food; it’s a daily ritual and a deep connection to her coastal roots, while sorghum holds ancestral resonance as a staple of indigenous agriculture.
Adding some heat to the kitchen is the much-anticipated Luju Farm to Fork Cook-Off Finals, also taking place on Saturday, from 11am at the Amphitheatre Hive. After an exciting semi-final round of voting, Chef Sivesetfu Bhembe and Chef Thanda Maphako have emerged as this year’s finalists. Both chefs are set to showcase their skills, creativity and culinary innovation in front of a live audience in what promises to be an electrifying showdown.
The Luju festival’s culinary programme isn’t just about food; it’s about remembering who we are through what we eat. It’s about bringing communities together around shared traditions and fla¬vours and boldly imagining a future rooted in ancestral strength and sustainability.
Join us this weekend to eat, sway and love your way through a culinary journey that honours the past while planting seeds for tomorrow.