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Johannesburg - On the weekend of 9 to 11 August, the dust will be unsettled as OppiKoppi returns.
As part of the preparations for the annual music festival, the organisers held a launch event in collaboration with Puma Select Sessions on Thursday night, giving the audience a taste of what they could expect.
The night saw performances by Afrikaans music project Van Pletzen, feelgood dream-pop singer Luma and Soweto-based band Urban Village, whose sound is fused with urban and rural influences based on society’s daily survival, struggles and joys.
Urban Village are an exceptional addition to the line-up and well worth checking out wherever they perform.
OppiKoppi is one of South Africa’s longest-running music festivals and takes place in Limpopo.
A negative side to the launch was the difficulty in hearing the performances because the event was not exclusive. Anyone could sign up on the Puma Select website to attend, or they could just wait outside the door to enter. As a result, we had to endure the loud Braamfontein kids who were gunning for free pizza and drinks, and spoke at the tops of their voices.
It was even hard to hear one of the highlights of the evening, which was the announcement that legendary artist Oliver Mtukudzi is this year’s OppiKoppi tribute artist. Mtukudzi, who started performing in his home country Zimbabwe in 1977, has become one of the most recognised international artists to emerge from there. He has earned a devoted following across the continent and beyond.
With no less than 58 albums under his belt (that Wikipedia knows of), he will surely be one of the festival’s biggest drawcards.
So, if you want music and debauchery to get you through winter and the second half of the year, OppiKoppi may be the outing to consider.
The OppiKoppi music festival takes place on OppiKoppi Farm in Northam, Limpopo. Tickets range from R575 to R3 700 and are available at plankton.mobi.
