Arts writer
ELVIS Blue, Radio Kalahari Orkes and Emo Adams are some of the headliners taking centre stage at the ATKV Oesfees on Saturday from 10am to 8pm.at the Solms-Delta wine estate in Franschhoek. One of SA’s most authentic harvest festivals, this eighth annual ATKV Oesfees which takes place on Human Rights Day weekend is expected to be a feast of Boland music and culture featuring over 100 performers.
Oesfees celebrates the end of the harvest by bringing together farm workers and farm owners from the Franschhoek Valley to ‘kuier’ and ‘vastrap’. The festival is also a showcase for the Music van de Caab project run by Adriaan Brand, who stages homegrown bands amongst all the top talent. The project seeks to preserve and develop the diverse musical heritage of the rural Cape.
These range from the Klein-Handjies pre-school choir and Kaapse Klopse style walking band, to The Delta Valley Entertainers, to a top wind and percussion band, Langbroeke, with choir ensemble, Soetstemme. Also performing on their own turf will be the Papier Langarm Orkes and Lekker Lekker Delta.
Much-loved Hannes Coetzee returns to the stage. His finger picking style – “optel en knyp” combines with his unique teaspoon slide technique, ranking him as one of the most unusual slide guitarists in the world.
Performing at Oesfees for the first time will be Elvis Blue, platinum selling singer and songwriter and Idols winner, and maverick Afrikaans singer Koos Kombuis.
RKO (Radio Kalahari Orkes) also return with a repertoire of festive folk tunes, backed by every instrument from guitar to kazoo. Funnyman Emo Adams, who stars in kykNET’s Jou Show met Emo has been performing on stage and TV for over 15 years, also appears.
Hot Water joins the line-up incorporating elements of traditional music such as kwela, mbaqanga, sakkie-sakkie, ghoema, maskandi and kwasa kwasa, with folk, blues and indie-pop rock.
What's a rural music festival without tasty, soul-satisfying home-cooked food? From the Oesfees kitchen will come Kaapsekos favourites made with local love, like waterblommetjie-bredie, snoek en patat and koeksisters as well as all the salads, along with hand-held treats like samosas and hertzoggies. Solms-Delta wines, some aptly named Langarm, Vastrap, Cape Jazz Shiraz, Lekkerwijn and Hiervandaan are the ‘hiervandaan’ accompaniments to the authentic Boland fare.
Then there’s the music museum. This year's Oesfees has extra meaning as it is the first at Solms-Delta since the establishment of the farm's Music van de Caab Centre, which gives visitors an interactive experience with the music of the rural Cape. Opened in 2014, the centre is an integral musical piece of the heritage pie that has characterised Solms-Delta Wine Estate since the 300 year-old Delta farm came under the stewardship of Solms. It is also the only museum in the world dedicated to Cape music.
Launched in 2008, the ATKV Oesfees has grown from a small celebration to a popular regional festival with over 5000 in attendance last year. “While now a large-scale event, the ATKV Oesfees is still as authentic as ever, touching all who perform and attend, with the power of music and gratitude,” said Mark Solms co-owner of Solms-Delta.
Japie Gouws, managing director of the ATKV group says, “The ATKV Oesfees has shown from the very beginning that its impact is exponential, not only by showcasing acts of good existing and new talent, but also by demonstrating the potential for nation building through language and culture. Year after year the spirit and quality of the festival amaze people, and it can be said without fear of contradiction that the festival is one of the highlights on the South African culture calendar.”
Children will be catered for with a secure Kidz Zone, where parents can sign in their children between the ages of 2 and 12 for supervised play.
l Gates open 9am, music 10am – 8pm. Tickets: R120, R35 (children 2 – 12 includes access to Kidz Zone), or at the gate for R150 on the day. Members of Gemeenskap, Solms-Delta's community-based wine club, R99. Kids under 2 free. Book: www.plank ton.mobi Info: www.solms-delta.co.za, www.oesfees.co.za, 021 874 3937.