BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
MBABANE – MTN Bushfire Festival has been named Consumers’ Favourite Tourism Experience at an awards ceremony celebrating brands and businesses that have made an impact in Eswatini.
This was during the Made in Eswatini Consumer Choice Awards held at Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday night. The annual festival emerged as the preferred tourism experience, adding another accolade to its growing recognition as a major cultural and entertainment attraction in the country.
Receiving the award Founder and Director of House on Fire and the MTN Bushfire festival Jiggs Thorne highlighted the importance of local businesses and creative platforms in shaping and telling Eswatini’s story.
“Eswatini is a small country with a big heart. It’s a family at the end of the day. We’re all here,” the representative said.
He said the awards were not only about recognising successful brands, but also about celebrating the people and ideas behind them.
“Tonight for me is really about acknowledging how we tell our own stories. How we bring those thoughts and imaginations to life,” Thorne said.
The MTN Bushfire representative also acknowledged the House on Fire team behind the festival, describing their work as an achievement that continues to inspire amazement.
“I would like to acknowledge the amazing House on Fire team who are not here this evening. You know, every year it’s just really, we’re gobsmacked at what we do,” he stated.
The director said the festival had become part of the country’s broader storytelling, with local music, creativity and businesses contributing to the identity presented to visitors.
“When I look out of the window and I play Bholoja, it sounds like the landscape. It’s a local story and you resonate with that. It’s very powerful,” he stated.
He further encouraged people to believe in their ideas and work towards making them a reality.
“If you imagine it, you can make it happen. You can birth it,” Thorne stated.
The award was presented among other consumer favourite brands recognised for their contribution to different sectors of the economy.
During the night some entrepreneurs walked away with two awards. Sunbites was among the brands that secured more than one award at the Made in Eswatini Consumer Choice Awards 2026.
Sunbites won the Consumers’ Favourite Health & Wellness Brand and Consumers’ Favourite Confectionery Product categories.
Mgewu Logistics also bagged two awards winning the Consumers’ Favourite Transport and Mobility Brand and also a Special Surprise Award.
The awards also recognised businesses and brands across various sectors, including food, agriculture, beauty, fashion, technology, tourism and transport.
The full list of winners included Explorers Smash Burgers, Beef Boys, Parmalat Double Cream Yoghurt, Vegeworth, Koma Water, Sine Leather, Wardrobe Wonders, Swoop and MTN Bushfire Festival.
Lobhalaza was named Made in Eswatini Iconic Brand, while African Alliance Group Partner and Chairman Sthofeni Ginindza received the Made in Eswatini Business Icon award.
#MTNBushfire #Tourism #Eswatini #ConsumersFavourite #BushfireFestival
