Kuru Dance Festival

If you visit the Kalahari desert in August, you will have the chance to one of Motswana's most distinctive celebrations: the Kuru Dance Festival. First held in 1997, it celebrates khoisan or San culture among the Naro San at D'Kar in the Ghanzi District, Botswana. It is a traditional festival with music, dance, and songs, and therefore, helps people recognize the diversity of San culture through different kinds of art.

During the Kuru Dance Festival, a variety of dances are performed. The San people's life story is told through a variety of dances, including hunting and gathering dances, rite of passage, puberty and courtship dances, and the infamous trance healing dance. The hunting and gathering dance is performed to celebrate both the preparation for the coming hunting or gathering season and a young boy's successful first kill. Meanwhile, rite of passage is conducted to welcome a young woman into adulthood and marriage. In addition, the San believe that dusk is a divine period when the universe vibrates with spiritual energy, hence performances of puberty and courtship dances begin at sunset and continue into the night.

When: August

Where: Kalahari desert