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The Herald, October 12, 1979
THE Jacaranda Festival is drawing to a close for another year, after a particularly successful two weeks.
Mrs Penny van der Linden of the Salisbury Publicity Association said: “The festival has been very much a community thing. Everyone has joined in.
“There have been more events this year and the festival has been longer. And everything has gone relatively smoothly,” she said.
There is still another weekend of festival events. Tonight there will be Jacaranda stock car racing at Glamis Stadium, and the Jacaranda girls will be in attendance.
At the same time there will be a folk festival in the open-air theatre in the Salisbury gardens, and the jacaranda casino. Tomorrow the annual student’s concert, organised by the Rhodesian Society of Music Teachers, will be held at the Girls’ High School hall at 8pm.
On Sunday afternoon, the Rufaro music festival winners will be playing at the open-air theatre in the Salisbury gardens.
On October 23 Salisbury will lose its Jacaranda queen and her princesses temporarily when they claim their prize of a holiday in Durban.
“I will be promoting Salisbury and Zimbabwe Rhodesia in Durban,” the queen, Kelly Wakeford, said.
“I will show them that just because they have the sea doesn’t mean they are the best.”
Born and bred in Salisbury, Kelly feels it is the place to be. She lived in South Africa for two years but “Salisbury is still the best,” she said.
And of her title, Jacaranda Queen, she says: “I still haven’t got over the shock. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I will try to be the ambassadress expected of me.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
- The Jacaranda Festival is an event that dates back to colonial times. The festival was held from Saturday September 23 in the then Salisbury (now Harare), a day when the city’s purple jacaranda trees were in full bloom. It was a celebration meant to take the minds of people away from the horrors of war.
- The festival has continued in independent Zimbabwe, and this year’s edition saw over 30 artistes performing – making it the biggest music fiesta in the country.
- Jacaranda trees are one of the nation’s historical trees and they are found in many parts of the country. The very first jacaranda tree was planted in Harare in the late 1890s.
- Jacaranda trees blossom twice a year – in late May or early June, and again from September to December. The tree represents wisdom, rebirth, wealth and good luck.
- The trees produce attractive and long-lasting violet-coloured flowers that normally form a carpet of purple on the ground.
- Despite their beauty, jacarandas are also a health hazard to some people, since they cause allergies.
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