Artists get feet-tapping at first Marloth Winter Musical Fair

MARLOTH PARK – Music ranging from toe-tapping country to classical masterpieces floated through the bush during Saturday’s Winter Musical Fair at the Marlothi Shopping Centre.

The fair featured a few stalls with artwork, jewellery, food, antiques and ice cream.

Christo and Marie Viljoen of Hande en Voete vir Jesus endeavoured to fill up their roll of linen with hand- and footprints to raise funds for Bible distribution. They started the project during the Lebombo Festival and hope to fill 1,67 kilometres of cloth, enough to wind past all of the churches in Komatipoort.

Several local organisations also received donations thanks to the proceeds of the centre’s Easter Festival in April. Beneficiaries were Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, the Marloth Park Wildlife Trust Fund, the Honorary Rangers, Marlothi Conservancy, the Marloth Park Ratepayers’ Association and the Marloth Park Property Owners Association.

Guests relaxed at the beer garden in the shade and tucked into freshly prepared espetadas, soups and a pao with bratwurst as they enjoyed live musical entertainment throughout the afternoon.

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The aim of the day, besides giving locals somewhere fun to get together, was to give exposure to some of Marloth Park’s talent.

Santie and Harry Erasmus of Arabella Music travelled from Kimberley to entertain the crowd with old favourites in Afrikaans and English and even delivered an amazing rendition of Die Briels’ “Trein na Pretoria”.

Charles Young, backed by his girlfriend, Mandy, gave the crowd goosebumps with a few country and pop hits.

Gert Delport created a party mood with his jolly disposition and repertoire and the Cooking Tenor, Etienne van der Nest, rounded off the show with a passionate performance.

Locals had the rare opportunity to enjoy Etienne’s velvet voice delivering a mix of Broadway and classical hits before he headed to Europe for a few months. Etienne usually hosts a few small performances at his lodge and performs in Europe regularly.

Marlothi Shopping Centre aims to become a hub for locals and regularly hosts events like movie nights and dart tournaments. They will also host another Rhodesian Reunion on August 31.

READ: Rhodesians reminisce at reunion in Marloth Park

John Edmond will once again bring the nostalgia with an amazing performance of some of his greatest hits and there will be traditional Rhodesian dishes on the menu.

For enquiries, contact Dalwyn on 082-553-8900 or Scotty on 083-258-8966.