'Tis the season for fun in the sun with explosive music and days out with friends and family.
With outdoor festivals like Saison Sundays, Good Morning, All A Woman Needs, DStv Delicious International Food and Music Festival, Hey Neighbour, Rocking the Daisies, Corona Sunsets Summer Tour and more to keep the party going, many of them are overnight events that give attendees the opportunity to spend at least a night's stay basking in the good times.
South Africa is just days away from some of the biggest music festivals featuring some of the country's – not to mention the world’s – most popular artists to kick off Dezember.
Whether you're headed to groove in Maracana, Johannesburg or Rands, Cape Town for Corona Sunsets or flocking to the Legends Adventure Farm and MX Park at Rhino Park in Pretoria for the Hey Neighbour festival experience, going to any event prepared will ensure you have the best time possible.
With many music events offering a full weekend of excitement, camping out doesn't have to be as daunting as it seems. Make sure you attend with all of your essential gear like tents, sleeping bags, ground mats, pillows and travel-sized toiletries to keep you comfortable.
For day festivals, bringing along camp chairs, picnic blankets, beach towels and sunscreen will make for stress-free experience.
Many of these festivals take months - if not years - of preparation and one of the organisers of Hey Neighbour, Lebo Motswenyane, shared some insight with TRUELOVE.
“We’ve been researching this and putting this together for a very long time. We took a trip out to Coachella – myself, Glen and Warren – and they went actually the year before that and just to see how it’s done because, obviously, internationally they’ve been doing these big shows for a long time.
“We see what Uncle Waffles is doing performing globally going to those kinds of shows and it’s just so lovely to be able to invite people into our space and make them our neighbours.”
READ MORE | Meet one of the visionaries behind Hey Neighbour – ‘If you’re going to lead, you lead from the front’
We have a list of everything you need to know to prepare for any festival weekend:
1. What to bring
Bring along your backpacks and moon bags to keep important items like water bottles, sunscreen, lip balm, hats, power banks, beach towels, hand sanitiser, lightweight parasols and shades so you can stay comfortable.
If you’re making a trip out of a weekend festival and plan on camping throughout the weekend – along with the necessity of a tent – it’s essential to bring along a sleeping back, ground mat, toiletries, padlock, blanket and pillow to get the rest you need after a day of enjoyment.
2. What not to bring
Along with anticipated music performances, festivals often offer a host of vendors with delicious food stalls and refreshing beverage spots to keep you happy, so, no outside food, drinks and coolers are allowed on the festival grounds.
For those camping, overnight festivals often allow guests to bring in beverages and cooler boxes solely for turning up at the camping grounds.
3. Getting there
At most festivals, parking is available but limited to a first come first serve basis.
To save yourself the hassle of finding parking, especially for those on African time, it’s advised you use e-hailing services or carpool with friends. Many festivals especially in more remote areas offer park and ride services where attendees meet at a central pick-up point to travel together to the event.
4. Safety and security
From the intensity of AfrikaBurn to the daily vibes of the Cape Town or Durban Jazz Festivals bringing together hundreds if not thousands of people, making sure you stay safe is a big priority.
Familiarise yourself with the entrances and emergency exits as well as the officially marked security guards should you need assistance with any. Plus, if you're consuming alcohol, make sure you stay fully hydrated with water in between each drink to remain aware of your surroundings. As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry.
5. Spending money
Most festivals are cashless, so, be sure to have you bank card locked and loaded. Others are cashless in the sense that you would need to preload your purchased tickets or accreditation with money ahead of time or at dedicated top-up stations throughout the festival grounds.
Make sure you've done enough research and read all of the frequently asked questions available on the event's websites to ensure you come with the right amount of money in the correct format.
6. What to wear
The question everyone’s been waiting for. Many events are held at sprawling acres of land and fields in the summer heat, so comfortable shoes, stylish but loose clothing and of course a hat to protect you from the blazing sun is at the top of the list of essentials to remember.
7. Familiarise yourself with line-up
Majority of the music festivals draw in a crowd with the announcement of one or more international acts to grace South Africa's shores - think Robert Glasper, Tems and Maxwell at DStv Delicious, Simmy at Corona Sunsets, Kendrick Lamar and Khalid at Hey Neighbour and Stormzy at Rocking the Daisies.
READ MORE | Tems, Zakes Bantwini and more rock at the 2023's DStv Delicious Festival
Mzansi also has its very own list of acclaimed performers to get you grooving, with the likes of Nasty C, Young Stunna, Black Motion, Bxckie, Mi Casa, DBN Gogo, Shekinah and more taking centre stage.
Seasoned publicist Melanie Ramjee - who heads the communications for major events and concerts including the Trace Music Festival, Hey Neighbour, the AfroFuture Music Festival and bringing Boyz II Men to Mzansi - couldn’t agree more with Mzansi’s talent, expressing, “A few years ago we said Africa it's your time and that hasn’t stopped.
“I think with amapiano for the world and to the world - I think that music genre exposed the South African market. It catapulted us 20 years into the future where we were trying to work so hard to be seen and to be seen on a global stage and amapiano just did that for us.”
Get familiar with your desired festival's music line-up and the different stages that each act is performing at so you can make the most out of the experience.
