A Feast of South African Festivals - Gttpsa.org

Scifest Africa
Where: Grahamstown
Website: Scifest Africa
SciFest Africa, or the National Festival of Science, Engineering and Technology, is held in late March in Grahamstown, Eastern
Cape. Over seven days it features some 600 events: lectures, game drives, a laser show, workshops, sunset shows, robotics
competitions, science olympics, school quizzes, interactive exhibitions, the PlayFair, field trips, talkshops and a film festival.
Attendance now exceeds 35 000 visitors every year.
Tonteldoos Country Festival
Where: Tonteldoos, Mpumalanga
The Tonteldoos Country Festival, previously known as the Peach Festival, happens in late March or early April in the village of
Tonteldoos, some 20km northwest of Dullstroom and two hours from Johannesburg. It offers peaches and pretty much
everything that can be made from the fruit, including peach mampoer.
APRIL
Klein Karoo Nationale Kunstefees
Where: Oudtshoorn
Website: Klein Karoo Nationale Kunstefees
The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn features well-known and young up-and-coming artists in dance and
theatre. Started as an Afrikaans alternative to the mainly English National Arts Festival, KKNK has 200 different shows on
three different stages.
AfrikaBurn
Where: The Karoo
Website: AfrikaBurn
Afrika Burn is based on The Burning Man festival, which grew out of a loose grouping of individuals and organisations that
questioned, and continue to question mainstream, highly commercialised society and what it does to the notion and workings
of community. In a nutshell, it's about radical self-expression.
Splashy Fen
Where: Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal
Website: Splashy Fen
Every year the Splashy Fen music festival attracts thousands of people to a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal for a feast
of mainstream and alternative rock and pop. It offers plenty of facilities, but there are great bed-and-breakfasts in nearby
towns for those who believe music festivals can be enjoyed without mud.
Tulbagh Goes Dutch
Where: Tulbagh, Western Cape
Tulbagh Tourism describes its two-day Dutch Festival as "a Gezellig Feestje for the whole family". In April the town's Church
Street, with its beautiful Cape Dutch architecture, hosts cultural activities, appetising spijs en drank temptations and
authentic treasures. It includes a traditional Dutch beer garden and a tulip exhibition at the Volksmuseum.
Philippolis Witblits Festival
Where: Philippolis, Free State
Website: Philippolis Witblits Festival
The Philippolis Witblits Festival, held in early April, will give you a taste of a proud local tradition - witblits (Afrikaans for
"white lightning") is South African moonshine. Held in the oldest town in the Free State, the festival has boeresport (literally
"farmers sport") for the kids, food, drink and more witblits.
Prince Albert Town and Olive Festival
Where: Prince Albert, Western Cape
Website: Prince Albert Town and Olive Festival
The Prince Albert Town and Olive Festival, held in the Swartberg region of the Western Cape in April, offers a whole lot more
than just the region's famous olives and wine. There's an art exhibition, beer tents, live music, witblits tastings, crafts for
kids, historic tours, a cycle race, an olive pip-spitting competition, culinary demonstrations, a midnight ghost walk, stalls,
cabaret, a dance and more.