Take a trip to Lusito Land

If you’re hankering after some prime peri peri chicken and some fantastic music, all for a good cause, then head straight for Lusito Land.
ONE of Joburg’s biggest annual festivals, Lusito Land, is back, once again bringing a taste of Portugal to the city of gold. As always, there are traditional food stalls, potent caipirinhas and an abundance of entertainment.

Rock group Prime Circle is performing at Lusito LandRock group Prime Circle is performing at Lusito LandHosted by the Lusito Association for the Mentally and Physically Challenged, the festival will run from 19 April to 1 May at Wemmer Pan, Turf Road, La Rochelle. According to the organisers, José dos Santos and Suzy de Lima, the Lusito Land Festival has more than 16 000 visitors and 147 stalls each year.

This year, the entertainment includes performances by Crazy White Boy, Mi Casa, Jax Panik, Sorina and Flooze, Denim, Prime Circle, Kurt Darren, Liquid Deep, Locnville, DJs Fresh and Euphonik, Jack Parow, and Dr Victor and The Rasta Rebels.

And when it comes to food, there are six restaurants, seven pubs and street cafés offering grilled peri peri chicken, chouriço, prego rolls, chicken livers, espetadas, giblets and seafood, including prawns and calamari.

Lusito Land is the Lusito Association’s primary fundraiser. All proceeds from the festival go directly to the maintenance and building of the Lusito School for the Challenged.

The Lusito Association was established in 1979 by a group of Portuguese parents who found a need for a school for the differently abled. The association started the first Lusito School under the auspices of the Mental Health Society of the Witwatersrand and has subsequently grown.

Tickets for the festival are priced at R60 for teens and adults and R25 for senior citizens and children aged between three and 12. There is a discounted fee of R25 for all individuals on 19, 23, 24, and 25 April.

The festival is open from 5pm to 10pm on 19, 23, 24 and 25 April; from 5pm to 11pm on 20, 26 and 30 April; from 10am to 11pm on 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29 April; and from 10am to 7pm on 1 May. Safe and secure parking is available at allocated parking areas. For further information about Lusito Land or the Lusito Association, visit its website or call the hotline on 079 999 9444.