Fourth Afrikiti Festival – a do to remember

The summer sun shone on the festival grounds and the beers were ice-cold. The air was filled with the most delicious aromas of true South African cuisine, while some of South Africa's top artists got the crowd to their feet.

Any festival enthusiast will tell you that this is the recipe for a top-notch celebration, and that’s exactly what the Afrikiti Festival was: a language and culture festival that could hold its own alongside some of South Africa’s biggest events, offering top-quality entertainment, art and food.  

This festival – the largest of its kind in the North West – was hosted for the fourth time this year at ATKV Buffelspoort, and it was the biggest yet, drawing more than 3 000 visitors.

The resort itself, which can accommodate 2 400 people, was fully booked for the weekend. If festivalgoers weren’t cooling off in the swimming pools, you would find them at the beer tent or gathered around the stage.

“Afrikiti is so much more than just another festival where artists perform. It is a fully fledged cultural festival where we celebrate culture in its entirety,” says Reyno Wepener, festival organiser and Marketing Manager at ATKV Buffelspoort.

He emphasises that the festival is created for the community, by the community.

“We try to involve the community as much as possible. The festival’s purpose is also to uplift and support the local community.”

One of this year’s initiatives was to encourage festivalgoers to donate dog food for the local Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty (SPCA).

“Yes, it’s about giving people the chance to celebrate their culture and enjoy themselves, but we also want to do our part to help the community,” Reyno explains.

The festivities kicked off on Friday with a reading workshop, presented by Vriende van Afrikaans (VVA), for nursery and primary school educators. The workshop focused on why reading can be challenging for children, how teachers can stay motivated, and creative ways to improve children’s reading comprehension.

Saturday, however, was the true highlight, with whips cracking on the festival grounds from early in the morning, followed by the roaring engines of Harley-Davidson motorbikes and classic cars that had the petrolheads enthralled.

In the Buffalo Hall, various dance groups, choirs and orchestras performed, including the Buffelspoort Orchestra and the Hoër Tegniese Skool Tuine Orchestra. Members of the ATKV Youth Branch in Rustenburg were also involved to act as the masters of ceremonies.

On the festival grounds, mouth-watering traditional food, such as curry and rice, pancakes and sosaties were on offer.

“We specifically wanted people to enjoy authentic dishes that are part of our culture. Food is, after all, an important part of our identity and culture,” says Reyno.

From early in the day, the artists were on stage, entertaining young and old alike.

llusionist Regardt Laubscher left the little ones wide-eyed, while Oom Karoolus and Lente had them laughing out loud.

The Ventertjies had the crowd dancing on the main stage, while the younger generation sang at the top of their lungs to Piesangskille’s hit Inge 2.

By sunset, the festival grounds were buzzing as everyone gathered at the stage for none other than Bobby van Jaarsveld.

The evening ended with the thunderous drums of Hans Drommedaris and his Drommedaris Duo.

Sunday morning brought Afrikiti’s very first Christian Festival, with performances by Oom Karoolus and Lente, Dewald Gouws and Francois Botha.

According to Reyno, faith is one of the cornerstones of culture, which is why it was important for them to include it in the programme.

“This year, we wanted to fully acknowledge religion as an integral part of culture. We are already planning to expand on this next year by involving local schools and congregations.”

Reyno says the weekend was a full celebration of culture and of Afrikaans in all its dimensions.

“Everyone gives a different answer when you ask them what culture means to them. Ultimately, it’s everything we do to adapt to our environment. This year, we celebrated sport, religion, music, food and education. Next year will be even bigger and better.”