The Splashy Fen crew have been hard at work over the last few months, preparing for the 2018 edition of South Africa’s Friendliest Festival. And fans old and new, will not be disappointed.

With a month to go, the full artist line-up has been released with the likes of Chico Muyo, Freddy–L, Rusty Red, Don Clarke and Dicky Roberts, Mali Zulu, Monark, Jerry and the Bandits, Rubber DUC, Bowling for Soup, Mango Groove, Hot Water, GoodLuck and Ard Matthews gracing the stages of the 28th Splashy Fen Music Festival.

With over 300 hand-picked artists across five unique stages over four days, fans do not want to miss out on this one. Added to that, and in keeping with Splashy Fen’s self-imposed responsibility to expose, develop and promote local artists, of the 320 musicians performing this year, 302 are South African.

In addition, the 2018 Splashy Fen will host the largest number of KZN-born artists in its 27-year history, with 46% of all musicians hailing from KZN.

Splashy Fen management have made a strategic effort to cap the number of tickets available this year, making only 7,000 tickets available to fans. “We want everyone who attends Splashy Fen to feel like part of the culture,” said Splashy Fen creative director, Andrew van Rensburg.

“We are adamant about providing a high-quality experience and a high level of service. Capping the number of available tickets is a commitment that shows we are less interested in ticket sales and more passionate about creating the best possible experience for everyone.”

Some exciting things to look out for at the 2018 Splashy Fen Music Festival include:

The Splashy Bus
Powered by Zeelo, the Splashy Fen experience just got a whole lot better and easier for fans, who can now leave their cars behind and join other party-goers on a car pool of a different kind. The Splashy Bus will collect travellers from two central points, in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and transport them to the festival and return, all for only R300. It also adds to the festival’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, with fewer people travelling in separate cars. Grab your friends and book a seat now: www.zeelo.co.za/rides.

Pre-order drinks system
Pre-order your campsite alcohol for collection at Splashy Fen, using the MiTreat App. Available through the Google Play Store or the Apple iStore, the MiTreat App lets fans order and pay for their campsite drink selection before they arrive, and collect the goods on site for the first two days of the festival. This initiative is a new ‘events’ category on the MiTreat App that will be launched at the 2018 Splashy Fen, so be sure to give it a go. For more information, visit the Splashy Fen website.

Firestone karaoke kombi
2018 will see Firestone’s Karaoke Kombi take to the road for its first full year of fun and music, stopping off in Underberg for the 2018 Splashy Fen Music Festival. The activation involves two kombis – one a classic 1972 VW Brasília kombi and the other one brand-new – converted into mobile karaoke studios. Fittingly, the Brasília kombi is host to the large catalogue of old-school songs, while its newer sibling features the best of new school karaoke songs.

Each kombi is equipped with microphones, a sing-along TV-screen and speakers, which allow guests to jump in, close the doors behind them and sing to their hearts’ content. Behind the scenes, a team of audio technicians record each performance and upload it to social media, before sharing it via mobile message with the singers and their friends. At Splashy Fen, everyone has a chance to perform for their biggest fans.

“Splashy Fen is a happy place. We’re working around the clock to make sure of it, so that fans can enjoy a weekend filled with adventure, great entertainment and so many opportunities to make amazing memories”, said Van Rensburg.

“We’re really excited about all the new things we have added this year. We’ve built a series of new showers, we’ve got exciting things happening down at the new Corona River stage, there’s a larger-than-life hand-made look-out tower constructed by the talented artist Kim Goodwin, our transport offering on The Splashy Bus offers fans an amazing alternative to driving up to the festival, and our Battle of the Fen competition gives a local artist the opportunity to fight it out for a spot on the main stage. We’re all about creating ‘that’ Splashy Fen experience. And we believe it is what puts the festival right up there, on a global ranking level.”

In addition to winning a 2017 Lilizela Tourism Award, for contributing over R35-million to the KZN community, 2018 sees Splashy Fen ranked as one of the top five things to do in March by American Express Essentials. On the same platform, the festival has also made the list of the 300 Best Festivals on Earth – a status that puts Splashy Fen up there with other global festivals.

South Africa’s oldest music festival will take place over the traditional Easter weekend from Thursday, 29 March to Monday, 2 April. Festival-goers will be able to experience a long weekend in the picturesque setting of Underberg, taking in the natural amphitheatres, beautiful mountain views, winding rivers and expansive camping fields, all while celebrating art, life, music and each other in true Splashy Fen style. Tickets are available at www.splashyfen.co.za.

WIN TICKETS: Splashy Fen 2018

The SUN has a set of double tickets to give away to Splashy Fen 2018.

Answer the easy question in the form below, fill in your details and SUBMIT!

The competition closes at midday on Tuesday, 13 March. Winners will be notified telephonically on Wednesday, 14 March.

• The competition runs until midday on Tuesday, 13 March.
• Tickets cannot be exchanged for cash.
• You may enter as many times as you like. (you might have to refresh the CAPTCHA box a few times)
• The winner will be decided by random draw.
• The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• Winners who cannot be reached telephonically before noon on 14 March will be passed over and a new winner drawn.
• The winners’ names will be published in the Sun of the following week and on the Sun’s Facebook page.