My Festival

The National Arts Festival (more commonly referred to as the Grahamstown Festival) celebrated its 40^th birthday this year, its life neatly straddling 20 years under the "apartheid regime”(loathe that regime word) and 20 years in the “new, democratic SA” (don’t like that reference either – a debate for another time).

A wine book club idea to break our virginity and finally visit this, the 3^rd largest festival of its kind in the world, was hatched late last year.

Googling the Festival unveiled a tsunami of 496000 sites.  And who knows how many articles have been published in print?  The Festival is well covered by veteran visitors and creative experts, offering seasoned and informed advice and opinion. 

Excited, we became slightly stressed when faced with the 306 page online festival programme, having been strongly advised to book a few shows before leaving home.

Dutifully starting at page 1 (well, actually page 26, bypassing the blah blah welcome letters which stretched on page after page) and scribbling down interesting sounding titles seemed like a practical idea, but was abandoned when I’d filled two A4 pages in my notebook with “must see’s”, and was only on page 37 of the programme.  So our initial show bookings were more of a stab in the dark, but at least we had 2 shows booked for arrival day and one per day thereafter.

Experienced Festival goers were generous with their advice and the heeding of it all made our Festival experience a richer, more comfortable one.  Thank you Bridget G and everyone else who chipped in with words of wisdom.  In fact, I’d strongly advise anyone visiting for the first time to tell people around you about your plans, you’d be surprised what gems of wisdom drop from complete stranger’s lips for which you are deeply thankful later.

I can’t add anything which hasn't been covered before, but we did learn and discover a few gems which are worth sharing for 2015 first time Festival goers.

1

 .   Common advice is to book accommodation early, and we echo that.  While staying in town has obvious benefits, we stayed at the Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery 3kms away.  Close to the 1820 Monument, it was a 5 min drive to the heart of the Festival, far from the madding crowd and late night noise, absolutely safe and extremely comfortable.  Think cosy rooms, excellent bathroom facilities, snug duvets and hot water bottles and cooked breakfast.  Each wing had a kettle and broad assortment of quality coffee and teas, sugar, milk etc.  There is a large, sunny lounge wrapped around a stone fireplace which we made good use of, enjoying bubbles and vinho tinto late into the night.  Bless Riana for braving the crisp early morning chill to run down, put together a large pot of plunger coffee and race back to our wing with 2 brimming mugs and a supply of fresh, homebaked crunchies.  Marion keeps the lounge coffee / tea station well stocked with biccies and hot drinks.  The only downside for me was my fantasy of grey stone buildings, cellars, monks in rough brown robes, their hair tonsured having a reality check…this monastery is nothing like that!

2.       Pull into the Monument box office on your way into GTown and pick up your pre-booked tickets there.  The queues are much shorter and if you paid by credit card, you can swipe the card and print them out in a jiffy.  Viva technology!

3.       Before you arrive, pick up a telephone directory sized programme from a Standard Bank branch. There’s a drop out planner inside which makes selecting and planning your shows immeasurably easy.  It lists the programme day by day under the starting times - use that in conjunction with the programme and you’ve cracked it.  We only worked this out on night two, when roasting in front of a warm fire, nibbling cheese and avocado, glugging red wine and wished we’d done this much earlier.

4.       Standard Bank customers rejoice – the bank has laid on feisty little tuk-tuks to buzz you around town at no charge.  When the wind is a’howling and you have to get from Victoria Hall to the Monument, you don’t hesitate!  There is also the Hopper service, 3 set routes that cost R5 a trip.  Hop on and off at will.

5.       The Long Table – what a find!  Tucked away down an alley off High Street near the Post Office is St George’s church hall.  Serving lunch and dinner daily and only set up at Festival time, this is an absolute ‘must do’.  Visualise Hogwarts dining hall (OK, the candles aren’t drifting mid-air, but placed on enormously tall heavy candelabra) and are the only light in this jolly, festive and somewhat romantic place.  It’s chaos at night – you queue, choose your meal off the chalkboard menu, pay and then are served delicious, homestyle meals with bread and salad on the side.  Think spinach lasagne, Thai chicken curry, beef stew and malva pudding…  The stage morphs into a bar surrounded by couches and easy chairs.  Once you’re clutching a plate and bottle of wine, find a spot on one of the four long tables, squeeze in and chat volubly to your neighbours.  Theatre folk haunt the place after their shows and you never know who you’ll be sitting next to.  It’s hard to believe that about 400 people laughing, singing, talking, eating and drinking, squeezed in like sardines, could make a church hall on a cold evening be a romantic, warm and the best place to be.  Perhaps it’s the faintly medieval feel to it – I could certainly imagine a knight of yore clanking in, throwing his helmet down with a crash and roaring for a cup of ale and a wench…

6.       Everyone is eager to share their favourite shows and recommend something to see, so lose your inhibitions and chat freely to those around you.  Having a couple of shows pre-booked was great, and we picked up tickets easily for others as we went along.  Even if a show is sold out, it’s worth heading up to the venue 30 mins before kick-off.  They do sell off some extra tickets at the door as they become available.

7.       Clothes – the common refrain before we went – “Oh, it’s so cold, take thermals, you’ll freeze” and so on.  This is the list that worked for me for 6 days – 1 long length coat, hat, gloves, buff, pashmina, 1 polo neck sweater, 1 fleece lined zip through hoody top, 3 pairs jeans, sneakers, heeled boots for travelling (vanity!) hiking boots (for warmth) warm pj’s, warm hiking socks, opaque tights to wear under my jeans, 6 long sleeved brushed interlock T shirts (which I layered).  We were apparently blessed with a very warm Festival (except that razor sharp and glacial wind which kicked up every now and then) so the layers came off as the day heated up.  I was plenty warm enough and the only thing I’d add would be a light raincoat, because if we’d had rain I’d have been miserable.  But we didn't.  And I wasn't.  Everything fitted into a carry on cabin bag.

8.       If this is your first visit to Grahamstown itself, add on another 2 days to do some non-Festival sightseeing. The town and surrounding area is rich in history and no trip would be complete without visiting nearby Bathurst, home to the oldest pub in SA and a darling little church of its own.

9. The Monument Foyer buzzes between 5 and 6pm every afternoon with 'teasers' performed by the artists.  This is an excellent opportunity to get an idea of what the shows are about.

They say everyone remembers their first time, and we will for sure.  My Festival memories are belly laughs and lumpy throats, intriguing plots and heated debates about humanity, polyglot audiences impossible to define or categorise, young performers passionately absorbed in their craft, chilly hands wrapped around hot coffee mugs, friendly chatter and wine, food and warmth, pop up soup and gluhwein stands on street corners and finally the way that everyone, absolutely everyone, was instantly friendly and opened up warmly to their neighbours.  I’m totally besotted with the Festival and its atmosphere, and already planning my next fix of ‘culture’!