THIS year’s Totem Expo will start on 27 May and end on 4 June, Oshakati mayor Katrina Shimbulu said yesterday. She said the event will be preceded by a fundraising gala dinner on 30 April, where the economic planning minister Tom Alweendo will be the guest speaker. Fifteen totem floats will be paraded along the main street of Oshakati on the way to the Independence Stadium, where the event will be held. In addition, Shimbulu said, there will be exhibitions and stalls for selling kapana, music performances and beauty pageants. New to the expo this year is the storytelling session (ohungi). “The Oshakati Totem Exposition is a commercial exposition focusing on cultural tourism based on the traditions and cultures of Namibians, a carnival−like exposition, organised from a different angle to that of a normal trade fair,” Shimbulu said. This year, more than 160 exhibitors are expected. The totem expo started in 2012 as a platform for promoting cultural heritage and entrepreneurship.