Share

Tour Diary: SA duo shares memorable moments from Edinburgh as tour comes to an end

Cape Town - South African husband and wife duo, the Bottomless Coffee Band, is heading home from Scotland where they performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time.

Lourens and Esté Rabé, who released their debut album in November 2014, played shows in Amsterdam and London before heading to Scotland as part of their European tour.

They have been sharing their journey with us in the form of a tour diary, so if you missed the first two, click here!

Check out their final diary entry here:

We have greeted the Edinburgh Fringe Festival farewell with a full heart and loads of inspirations.

Our last few shows were truly memorable, but to top it all, we had the great honour and privilege to meet the South African Minister of Arts and Culture, Minister Nathi Mthethwa.  He was in Edinburgh for a cultural summit and insisted on having a meeting with all the South African artist at the Fringe. He listened to our challenges, but most of all he encouraged us to discuss solutions in order to make these international festivals more accessible to more South Africans.  We discussed how high the SA standard is and how proud we are of it.  The aim is to gradually leave a bigger SA footprint on world entertainment. WOW - how cool is our Minister of Arts and Culture??  Viva SA!

After our show yesterday, we were invited to a gathering hosted by the South African Minister of Arts and Culture, Min. Nathi Mthethwa. . He was here in Edinburgh for a cultural summit and apart from a busy schedule he insisted he wanted to meet all the "artists on the ground" at the @edfringe to congratulate them on performing at the festival and to discuss challenges that we faced and solutions that we might suggest. . He shared some very interesting statistics and we all shared our story. We then had a long discussion on how we can take South Africa to the world abroad. What an incredible evening - celebrating South African arts in all its diversity and listening to members of our parliament who really want to ensure that we "fly with what we have to offer". . We are grateful for this incredible support and initiative! . Viva South Africa! ????????

A photo posted by Bottomless Coffee Band (@bottomlesscoffeeband) on

We have really learnt so much at the Edinburgh Fringe and on the rest of our tour.  We would love to host a session back in South Africa to encourage more SA artist to head out into the world by sharing what we have discovered.  This experience has broadened our horizons, the way we think about presenting arts and a festival and just all in all enhanced our courage to go out and do what we do!

We are excited to hit the ground running back in SA as we are heading on a tour to Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria on September 8th, 9th and 10th.  Please follow us on social media to get the details.  See you on the road!


Whoohoo

A photo posted by Bottomless Coffee Band (@bottomlesscoffeeband) on

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE