A red sense of belonging at Oppikoppi
NORTHAM - A rare experience of unity at Oppikoppi Bewilderbeast.
They said you needed to love the dust. They weren’t wrong. Oppikoppi, near Northam in Limpopo, is a daunting – and dusty – experience; especially if it’s your first time to the farm.
Even driving to the campsite your skin colour changes to the same red hue as the soil’s.
But get there and suddenly you enter another world, one where everybody – and everything – is the colour red. In the city you are your skin colour. At Oppikoppi, you are united in red.
Even driving to the campsite your skin colour changes to the same red hue as the soil’s
The 2013 Oppikoppi music festival, with the theme Bewilderbeast, attracted more than 20 000 festival goers.
Headlining artists included Mango Groove, Jack Parrow, Toya Delazy, Fokofpolisiekar, Die Heuwels Fantasties, The Narrow, Deftones, Koos Kombuis and Arno Carstens.
A cold beer in Limpopo on a warm Winter’s day is sublime, much like during Fokofpolisiekar’s performance, when I had to pinch myself – and prevent myself from not running to the stage to touch the band. It was as if the koppie wanted me to not just listen to, but truly experience the music.
That feeling was amplified tenfold during an emotional performance by Mango Groove. They must have noticed that at the festival you are never alone: you can shout “Oppie” into nowhere, anytime of day or night, and a loud chorus of “Koppie” will greet you from all over.
…at the festival you are never alone…
This bond elevates the experience into one of belonging. The loud calls become something of a nuisance when you lay spent on a shoddy makeshift bed, trying to get a few hours of sleep, but not once will you feel deserted.
When the stage lights went off, there was a value in knowing all the other campers were red like you. And that you actually loved the dust.
