Every March, the Franschhoek Valley ‘positively’ rings with song, as farmers and workers (and thousands of music-lovers) join together at Solms-Delta Wine Estate to celebrate the end of the harvest at the annual Oesfees, or Harvest Festival. With all wine farm workers given complementary admission to the one festival that exclusively features rural Cape music, the 2012 Oesfees on Saturday, 24 March, will once again be the only gathering of its kind.
The Oesfees is not only a heartfelt thank you to those who toil in the fields and the cellars; it’s also the annual culmination of a special musical heritage programme, based at Solms-Delta Wine Estate, and where amateur musicians perform alongside the professionals.
When the farm’s present owner, Mark Solms, bought the farm in 2001 he realized that he would have to transform the estate radically if he was going to seriously address its legacy. He established the Wijn de Caab Trust to attempt to address the social and economic inequalities of the historically disadvantaged farm residents and employees.
One of its most exciting offshoots is Music van der Caab, a musical project which touches hundreds, from preschoolers to octogenarians, and for which the Oesfees is the ultimate showcase. “Music is who we are, and it is a strong expression of our human dignity,” says Adriaan Brand, the Springbok Nude Girls musician who is the programme’s director. The benefit from this cultural upliftment is seeing pride and positivity in people where there once was none, says Brand.
At Solms-Delta, three and four-year-olds are singing traditional songs in the Klein Handtjies crèche choir, as well as learning rieldance, a traditional dance form with Khoe and San roots. Youngsters on the farm and in the community at large are being taught brass, guitar and other instruments by professional musicians. Some 20 female choristers in the Soetstemme Choir, who work on the Solms-Delta farm by day, are writing their own compositions and singing their hearts out, while several farm bands – from a “Kaapse Klopse” style walking band to a top wind and percussion band – are playing music that is pure Cape vernacular. All of these groups are performing as well, and the musicians are loving the opportunities they now have to interact with the public.
With extensive outreach, the programme has also awakened youthful passion for music through the creation of successful school and community bands. Music van der Caab was acknowledged by the Western Cape Government Department of Culture and Sports with a Performing Arts award for Music for 2011/2012.
All these musical groups will be performing for an estimated crowd of 4500 at the Oesfees, which is the culmination of a year’s hard practise. Complementing the show’s line-up are musical finds from Brand’s Music van de Caab research field trips into the Kalahari: Auntie Susanna Draaier, an Afrikaans and KhomaniSan songstress in her early sixties, and Oom Andries Bok who, well into his seventies, still delivers region specific versions of well-known traditional songs. Their performances will expose a broader Western Cape audience to their talents.
This year’s 5th annual Franschhoek Oesfees, on Saturday, 24 March, has a foot-stomping line-up of South African musical gems including David Kramer, Theuns Jordaan, Emo Adams, Chris Chameleon, Tribal Echo, Hannes ‘spoon-slide guitarist’ Coetzee, and Les Javan, as well as the Solms-Delta acts.
Tickets cost R110.00 per person if pre-booked (www.ticketbreak.co.za), and can also be purchased at the gate for R130. Free entry for children under 12 if accompanied by their parents. For info, see www.solms-delta.co.za or call 021 874 3937 or email info@solms-delta.co.za.
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