Three days of camping, outdoor recreation, local enterprise, wellness and entertainment came to a close at the seventh edition of the Mlawula Campfire Festival on Sunday, bringing another weekend of activity to Siphiso Campsite in Mlawula Nature Reserve.
Held all weekend long, the festival brought together families, friends, camping enthusiasts and visitors from different parts of Eswatini, while also attracting international tourists, including visitors from Spain.
The event, organised by the Eswatini National Trust Commission (ENTC), has developed around an outdoor format that places the campsite and surrounding reserve at the centre of the experience.
Its programme combined entertainment with activities including hiking, aerobics, team-building games, game viewing, food, comedy, cultural activities and live performances.
Rather than being built around music alone, the festival allowed visitors to spend much of the weekend outdoors and participate in activities throughout the day before gathering around the entertainment programme in the evenings.
On Saturday morning, festivalgoers started the day with a walk through the reserve before returning to the campsite for an aerobics session. The day continued with recreational competitions, including sack races, nail punching, tug of war and sprints, creating an opportunity for groups and families to participate together.
The activities formed part of the festival’s wider wellness and outdoor recreation offering, with movement and time in nature sitting alongside the social side of the weekend.
The camping experience itself remained central. Visitors could bring their own food, prepare meals at the campsite and spend the weekend in the reserve, creating a setting that differed from conventional events where audiences arrive for a few hours and leave afterwards.
Camping gear for this year’s festival was reported to have sold out, while ENTC CEO Thulani Methula said attendance had already surpassed the conservative target of 1,200 people.
The combination of sold-out camping facilities and visitors travelling from outside the country provided a measure of the festival’s reach during its seventh edition.
The campsite also gave local businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to trade directly with visitors. Stalls featured food, clothing, crafts, bags, baskets, accessories and other locally made products, adding a commercial element to the outdoor experience.
Tourism and Environmental Affairs Minister Jane Mkhonta-Simelane visited the festival during the weekend, touring the campsite and engaging with exhibitors and festivalgoers.
She was accompanied by Methula, Eswatini Tourism Authority CEO Vusie Dlamini, ENTC CFO MduduziNdzinisa and board member Phinda Manyatsi.
During the visit, Mkhonta-Simelane said the festival had the potential to grow into an event comparable in status to the internationally recognised MTN Bushfire Festival.
She pointed to the festival’s increasing attendance and its combination of tourism, recreation, culture and entertainment as indicators of its growth potential.
“The numbers are growing every year, and very soon this festival will be at the level of Bushfire,” the minister said.
Her comments place the festival within the country’s broader tourism and events landscape, particularly as Eswatini continues to promote experiences beyond the traditional tourism centres.
Mlawula Nature Reserve provides a different setting from conventional festival venues. The reserve, situated in the Lubombo region, offers visitors access to outdoor activities, wildlife and the surrounding landscape while the festival creates a temporary social and entertainment space within the campsite.
The festival’s official programme is designed around that combination, with ENTC describing the event as an annual gathering for local and international camping enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers, families and companies.
Activities listed by the commission include hiking, aerobics, team building, game viewing, cycling, comedy, live music, cultural dance, exhibitions and children’s games.
Entertainment remained an important part of the weekend, but it worked alongside the other elements rather than standing alone.
On the final day, performances by Bholoja, SINTOUR and The Bishop helped close the festival programme, bringing audiences back together for the final stretch of the weekend.
Earlier in the festival, the programme also included comedy and live music, from the likes of Boohle, Sanchiezy, Linda Dlamini and others, while the cultural component extended the experience beyond contemporary entertainment.
The festival’s organisers had promoted the 2026 edition as a mixture of outdoor activities, music, culture and camping.
Government officials attending the festival included Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Minister Bongani Nzima, while Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture CEO Stanley Dlamini was also present.
For the ENTC, the festival is part of a wider effort to encourage visitors to explore the country’s natural areas while creating opportunities around tourism and local enterprise. Its official positioning has also identified the growth of the event and the development of Mlawula as an outdoor tourism destination among its objectives.
While the seventh edition ends, the festival leaves behind three days in which the campsite served several purposes at once: a place to sleep under the stars, a space for exercise and recreation, a marketplace for local businesses and a venue for music, comedy and cultural entertainment.
The minister’s comments have also placed a larger question around the event’s future: whether the growing attendance and interest can translate into sustained development in subsequent editions.
For now, the seventh Mlawula Campfire Festival has closed after a weekend that brought together nature, wellness, lifestyle and entertainment, with the campfire remaining at the centre of the experience.
