The town of Clarens, one of South Africa’s hidden gems welcomed thousands of festival goers into their town, the venue itself was green and luscious, and a relaxing long weekend away with amazing scenery, word class music from both home grown and international talents was awaiting us. This was the 1st Lush festival and with anything new there were minor hiccoughs in terms of the camping arrangement, festival goers had to walk long distances to the designated camping area, however there were vehicles to assist making it easier.
Lindwood farm was our playground for the 4 day festival, with enough grass for people to run wild barefooted, the scenery gave relaxed vibe to the whole festival with 3 stages offering different sounds. “The BarnOwl” offered an acoustic setting where some artists could get intimate with their audience, whilst at the main stage “The Willow” offered a bigger setup and platform to showcase the bands. If you were in the mood for electronic music the third stage “The Woods” was set in the woods (hence the name), with hundreds of trees surrounding the dance floor, it was also a place for festival goers to sit and relax throughout the day or dance till the early hours of the morning. Lush Festival had a plethora of artists, so whatever music you were in the mood for on that long weekend you were sorted.
Rubber Duc, Jeremey Loops, Al Bairre, December Streets and Shortstraw gave a stellar performance at the main stage on Friday night, with Xavier Rudd mellowing things down, serenading the crowd with soulful music.
Saturday saw the likes of Majozi, Die Heuwels Fantasties, The Parlotones, and Civil Twilight gracing the stage. Francois Van Coke, as always giving his all on stage and involving the crowd whether you understood Afrikaans or not, you were part of the show.
The closing act at the main stage was Goodluck, they have an incredible way of getting their audience involved in the show. It was pleasure to seeing the euphoria in the crowd when Goodluck back on stage for one last song ending show on such a high energy. When you didn’t want the music to end one would make their way into the Woods for electronic dance music. Friday night gave us a bit of Techno by the likes of Troxler Efex, Keanu Lee, Kimon Rayne, Vin Groovin and Cerotonin. The House veterans Chunda Munki, Cinimin and Timo graced the decks, Pop Art gave us an electrifying set. Shaking up the woods some Drum N Bass were Ella G and Benson, with Mr Green closing the Woods with a high impact set!
A big thank you to the Lush Festival organisers, BreakOut Management, staff and artist for an amazing festival. Whether you wanted a weekend getaway or a relaxed festival with no dust, Lush is definitely one to be experienced, with the right attitude you are bound to make new connections and friendships, a place where you can feel free to be your weird selves with no judgement. We look forward to the next one in 2017… see you guys there!
