The Farms were Alive with the Sound of Music
by Sheree-Ann Jooste
This year was the first annual kick off to the Silver Mountain Music Festival Event. Inspired by the silvery glow of the Langeberg, Silver Mountain Music is a celebration of music and nature in the Grootvadersbosch Valley. A couple of us from Gondwana Alive were fortunate enough to experience the Festival First Hand.
Road trip to the South-Western Cape Thursday, 16 June 2016
This blog basically describes my journey and experience I had at the first annual show of the Silver Mountain Music Festival. Be sure to look out for some cool pictures ?
Day1, Thursday 16 June 2016
We kicked off with a long four hour drive from Cape Town on route to Heidelberg, where the first event took place. The views and landscape were absolutely beautiful. As we arrived at Heidelberg we met the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy team- what an awesome group of individuals. We “were” then immediately assigned to our duties and welcomed the people to the first show of the day.
The first concert was held at the Heidelberg Community Hall where The Delft Band played some cool jazz songs accompanied by Prince Lengoasa, Adelia Louw and other local artists.
Day 2, Friday 17 June 2016
The day started with a Mountain Bike Trail guided by Aileen Anderson who is the Project Manager of the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy Natural Resource Management and Trails projects. During the afternoon a Milk tasting Dairy Tour was conducted by one of the Farmers at DonDonald Farm which was very informative. This is the only farm in the South Western Cape that breeds Fleckvieh cows, a special kind of breed well known for its healthy meat and milk. The milk was delicious as I am very fond of dairy products.
The second show was an elegant classical ensemble with Richard Cock and the Silver Mountain Festival Band, which was held at the beautiful Schoone Oordt Country House in Swellendam.
Day 3, 18 June 2016
The third day started off with a fun mountain bike trail ride for the children. There were quite a bunch of young adventurous kids who enjoyed riding through the forest. After their ride they were treated to delicious warm waffles and jelly baby sweets as a treat and to reboot their energy levels.
At 11:00 a guided Forest Conservation walk was conducted by Prof. Geldenhys for all the nature enthusiasts.
The afternoon ended off with Louis Armstrong and Friends’ musical at Valleys End Farm. The setting was perfect, you got to see the beautiful mountain whilst enjoying a glass of Baleia Wine, and experience the beautiful music playing in the background.
Day 4, 19 June 2016
The last event ended off with the local Heidelberg Choir concert alongside Richard Cock and members of the Cape Town orchestra. Ricardo Januarie, being one of the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy’s Project Manager Assistant, also conducted the choir, multi-talented I tell you.
After a busy fun filled weekend spent in the South Western Cape we headed back to Cape Town. The Silver Mountain Music Festival 2016 was a great success. Music, arts and culture brings people from all walks of life together. See why Gondwana Alive supports events like this here
