Should we go or not? It was running through my mind as Friday drew closer to the Pretoria Festival. The problem was that the weather was not in our favour.
It’s an open-air venue, and it’s raining. The problem is that we can’t cancel, request a refund, or even reschedule it for another day of the event. The event took place over 4 days, starting on a Friday.
We opted for Friday because most of the bands playing were friends of mine’s favourites in the Afrikaans scene. It was his birthday, and ultimately, it was his choice. All good with me, but the weather…
About
The Pretoria Fees is a large, multi-day festival held at Legends Adventure Farm, offering a diverse range of attractions. It features an outdoor expo with various vendors and displays, a wide selection of food and drinks, including a braai village, and a packed entertainment lineup.
This includes a multi-genre music festival featuring alternative, Afrikaans, cover bands, and “opskop” (party) music, alongside thrilling aviation activities such as airshows and helicopter rides.
Additionally, attendees can enjoy amusement park rides, animal encounters, and various adventure sports and games, making it an event with something for everyone.
On with the story…
Friday
Even though it was still cloudy and light rain fell intermittently, we decided to go, as the tickets were R250 per person.
To get to the venue from Centurion, we had to take the N4 towards Cullinan and Rayton. It turned out to be the very Cullinan, Rayton offramp on the R515 South.
As we got closer to the venue, I noticed a lot of vehicles in the designated parking area and ended up thinking it might be okay. The interest is bigger than I thought, and maybe they know something I don’t.
I should mention that it was my first time attending the event, and I was not sure what to expect. As I made my way through all the displays, it made me think of the Outdoor X EXPO. It’s a lot the same with fewer outdoorsy lifestyle-related displays and fewer displays overall.
As we entered, we found displays featuring flowers and water fountains, followed by an amusement park. Then it branched out into vendors selling a wide variety of products.
From clothing and accessories to arts and crafts, novelties, local artisanal products, agricultural goods, outdoor lifestyle items, and vehicle and aircraft displays, all leading you towards the main stage.
It took us about 2 hours to work our way through the different vendors, with a pit stop in between where we had a chance to grab something to drink.
We got to the main stage just before 3 in time for Elandre’s performance. There we sat and enjoyed shows from Zaan Sonnekus, Die Piesangskille, which I particularly liked. They were new to me and quite entertaining.
Fokofpolisiekar and Spoegwolf were the main attractions, and so I noticed from the crowds. There was a lot of excitement around these two bands, and I must say their shows were good.
Thankfully, the weather played along and we managed to enjoy the shows without being rained on too much. It’s all part of the fun, I keep telling myself.
The highlight of the show, to me, would be the performances of the various Afrikaans singers and bands.
Last Thoughts
R250 per person was initially steep, but after attending the show and enjoying the entertainment, the cost started to make sense to me. There were 8 bands with more or less 45-minute slots doing their thing, and I thought maybe it’s a reasonable price to pay for this much entertainment.
If you had to view only one of these bands, you would probably pay R100-150+ per person, and then you would only have the one band. So, the R250 started to feel like good value for money.
Then there was the beer price. I think R50 per 500ml of locally produced beer is a bit heavy, and I think most who paid the price will agree with me. That’s all I have to say about that.
Overall, I’m glad I went to see what the Pretoria Festival was all about. The weather worked out mostly, and it was a good time spent with friends.
That’s it from me on the Pretoria Festival. Now you have a better idea of what to expect, and may it inspire you to visit them next year.
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