In South Africa the day of the youth uprising is rapidly being depoliticised but in Holland its old meaning is still celebrated.

Though interest in the events that led to the Soweto student uprising of June 16 1976 has been dying a slow death over the past seven years, that did not stop former members of the anti-apartheid movement in Amsterdam, Holland, from staging a week-long programme to mark the 25th anniversary of the uprising.

In the week of June 11-16 the Afro Vibes Foundation organised a cultural festival called the Afro Vibes Festival to commemorate June 16. The Afro Vibes Foundation was formed to enhance the relationship between the Netherlands and South Africa by cultural exchanges and education and by helping students from rural schools with scholarships attend South African universities.

The first day of the festival kicked off with a debate, Power Relations of Image Creation and Representation: Reflection on race, class and gender 1976-2001. On the panel were Palesa Letlaka-Nkosi, a South African filmmaker, and the writers Jan Nederveen Pieterse and Thelma Ravell-Pinto.

The same evening a documentary by Paulo Alberton and Greame Reid about young, gay hairdressers in rural South Africa, Dark and Lovely, Soft and Free, was shown in Amsterdam.

Later that evening, Jazzabell, a band featuring the black South African drag artist Miss Thandi, otherwise known as Raymond Matinyana, performed.

On Tuesday, June 12, it was the turn of the Moss Mogale Unit, an Afro-jazz group from Mamelodi, Pretoria, set the night on fire at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.

The following evening a panel of filmmakers held a discussion titled Dreaming In The Present, Tense? Letlaka-Nkosi chaired the discussion. Ten-minute excerpts from Teddy Mattera's film Hold Up The Sun - Ulibambe Lingashoni, the Netherland's Tessa Boerman's Pizzeria Inferno and Tboho Mahlatsi's acclaimed Portrait of A Young Man Drowning were screened as part of an attempt to narrate South Africa's recent history.

The second part of the evening was dedicated to two documentaries by Letlaka-Nkosi. These were Golden Girls, about conceptions of gender and race, and Short Hair, Flat Nose, a short film on racial stereotypes.

The Vuyani Dance Theatre Project, made by Gregory Maqoma and Shanell Winlock, staged the Dutch premiere of their critically acclaimed work Southern Comfort at the Pleintheater. The work uses the love-hate relationship between a maid and her madam as a metaphor for race relations in South Africa.

The next day a political debate about the meaning, impact and future of June 16 was held at a venue called De Balie. The participants were Bart Luirink, a Dutch journalist, the Reverend Joe Modise, a former activist now resident in Holland, and myself. The moderator of this debate was Boris Dittrich, a Dutch member of parliament.

After the debate improvisation theatre was presented by Hare Bapaleng, a Dutch theatre company that works with children. Lindiwe Ndlovu, a South African actress and a graduate of the Market Theatre Laboratory in Johannesburg, also took part in the presentation.

The final event of the festival was held at De Melkweg with performances from the energetic and multicultural Afro Vibes Band, which electrified the evening with traditional songs.

The Casa choir, formed during the anti-apartheid struggle, sang South African freedom songs and Glue in the Jelly, a Dutch band, performed Dutch and West African music. The Moss Mogale Unit also thrilled the audience.

Priscilla Jana, the South African ambassador to the Netherlands, and Jaap van der Aa, the deputy mayor of Amsterdam, were among the guests.

Perhaps South Africans can copy the success of this festival by also organising week-long events commemorating the historic day.

Vuyo Mntuyedwa's trip to Holland was made possible by the Afro Vibes Foundation, South African Tourism and South African Airways