Publications
Partners
Cape Town - As Cape Town music festivals get bigger and more crowded, Wolfkop Weekender is a breath of fresh air. The event, which took place this past weekend, is one of the most intimate music festivals of the summer, with only 600 people, one stage and no selfie sticks in sight.
Wolfkop Weekender was held at Wolfkop Camping Villages on a 100-hectare citrus, buchu and rooibos farm in the Citrusdal Valley, 20 kme from Citrusdal. The organisers describe the event as part-weekend away, part-music festival and a back-to-nature experience, which really sums it up. The venue is beautiful – orange groves lead down to manicured green lawns with the lux camping tents under bedouin stretch tents and a shady bring-your-own campsite on the banks of the Olifants River overlooking dramatic mountains (recently burned in a fire) on the other side.
With warm weather and the tranquil river only steps away from campsites, everyone just wanted to spend the day in the water. Festival goers took to their kayaks, stand up paddle boards and colourful lilos to float away the sunshine hours, cold beers in hand, listening to the likes of Capetonian DJ Tommy Gun playing beats from the bedouin tented stage.
The festival featured only electronic music DJs, and the headliner was Frivolous from Canada, who played alongside local acts Andy Islands, Original Swimming Party, LEEU, Bruno Morphet, Lady M, Richard Marshall and Digital Rockit.
Away from the stage, there were lots of places to take in some quiet time. This included long walks, lazing around on beanbags next to the river and at a Saturday morning yoga class.
The food trucks complemented the wholesome flavour of the festival, offering artisanal peanut butter swirls and coconut and lemonade ice lollies, cold pressed juices, superfood smoothies, deconstructed pizzas and gourmet burgers and veggie taco bowls. On Saturday afternoon there was also a surprise treat of tables laid out with free fruit, brownies, marshmallows and iced tea, and on Sunday there was a spit braai.
Wolfkop Weekender – only two years old - is a bi-annual event that takes place in January and at the end of August. The summer party – Lilo River Flow – is all about lilos on the river, while the August event – Flower Power Picnic – celebrates wild flowers of spring.
An older crowd of friendly people, an intimate setting, and special touches – like the fruit treats table – make Wolfkop feel like the grown up version of a music festival, minus the queues and the porta-potties.
(Photos: Sarah Duff/Wolfkop)
