Oppi! Koppi! I Survived.
Last night I returned from OppiKoppi, South Africa’s largest and most legendary music festival.
“Oppi Koppie” means “on the hill” in Afrikaans.
About 20,000 of us gathered for three days on a dusty farm in rural Limpopo province. We listened to dozens of mostly South African musical acts of multiple genres; most of them were good, and some of them were outstanding. We camped out. We inhaled massive amounts of dust. We peed in prickly thorn bushes. We danced, and we got lost, and we walked, for miles and miles and miles. We did not shower. We made lots of new friends.
I don’t have the energy to write a detailed account of my oppi experience today. A longer post is coming soon. In the meantime, here are some shots I took on the first night of the festival. The lights were spectacular.
Eerie trees and lights, looking down on the main stage from the top of the koppie.
Watching a band from Joburg called Shadowclub.
Same act, different color.
Look carefully: The guy in the foreground has a scarf over his mouth. He’s trying to minimize his inhalation of dust. You can see the dust swirling in the light beams.
Crazy tree.
Same tree, different color.
A band called Taxi Violence.
Around the fire.
I’ll have more to say once the dust clears.
Can’t wait! Great photos.
Thanks Mia!
Nice pics Heather! I’m still recovering from the dust myself!
OMG, Heather, these photos are stunning! I’m glad to be back from my week of trading the blogosphere for actual, in-the-flesh bloggers. We had SO much fun, and in the midst of it, I even ended up on the evening news and a tree, on our house. Looking forward to more! Hugs, Kathy
Our first visit to OppiKoppi we had T-shirts made that said “I survived OppiKoppi” that was about 15 years ago and looking a photo’s from different people doesn’t look like much has changed. Glad you survived and experienced it.
Thanks! I hear it has gotten much bigger since then, but I’m sure much of it is still the same.
Wow! This looks fantastic! What a great way to spend the weekend. :)
It was! Although exhausting and very dirty :)
Yes, I can imagine!
Awesome post! Was it only the dust that bugged you? The last and only other time I was there in 2003 ‘dust’ was also an issue! :) But Oppikoppi is awesome! Great showcase for local bands!
Just for your information… You were about 20 minutes drive away from my hometown! :)
Ah, cool! I must admit, I struggled with a few other things in addition to the dust. The lack of toilets and running water started to get to me after a while, as well as the extreme temps (both hot and cold), and the extreme drunkenness :) But overall it was a great time.
awesome shots!!
Thanks.
Aaaamazing pics! And well done on Surviving the Koppiiiiiiii!!! That’s something to be proud of my friend! Hehehehe :)
Thanks Lu. It was a major accomplishment indeed.