The Splashy Fen festival was founded by two friends, Bart Fokkens and the now late Peter Ferraz. Back in 1990 they decided to hold a small two-day music festival featuring a few musicians playing outdoors around campfires for passionate music lovers. The Splashy Fan farm with its natural amphitheaters, great acoustics, winding rivers, breathtaking mountain landscapes and camping grounds turned out a perfect setting for this kind of event.
Fokkens and Ferraz anticipated a modest attendance of around 200 persons. Imagine their surprise when the inaugural festival attracted about 1,200 music lovers who came to listen to African artists such as the Silver Creek Mountain Band, Tony Cox, Plagal Cadence and Syd Kitchen (who, by the way, performed at every single Splashy Fen festival up until his death in 2011).
The first Splashy Fen had a rather rudimentary infrastructure. There was a makeshift stage, an old, unreliable tractor-powered generator and a few portable toilets. Although the music would stop often because the tractor needed to be refueled, no one complained. Even a sudden snowfall on the second and final day of the festival didn’t scare people away, although it did affect the scheduling of the subsequent festivals. The event was moved to early May and then to the Easter weekend.
Despite all the small troubles, the first Splashy Fen was so successful that it was decided to hold it annually. Over the years, it has become one of the largest and most popular music festivals in South Africa and an integral part of the country’s music scene. Originally focused on folk music and folk rock, it now features practically all music genres, from indie and blues to techno and house music.
The line-up of Splashy Fen features artists from all over South Africa as well as international musicians. The festival offers four days of non-stop music on four stages (Main Stage, River Stage, Milk Stout Acoustic Shabeen Stage and Electric Boma). Along with live performances, the festival offers a craft market, quality beer gardens and bar services, food outlets, kids entertainment, trail running concerts, and more.
Photo: splashyfen.co.za
