Debut of Pink Girlfest

This weekend was the first Pink Girlfest. It was a women-only festival which took place over Saturday and Sunday in Volksrust, Mpumalanga. Activities included self-defence and mountain biking workshops as well as a gardening and DIY workshop by Tanya Visser (well-known in SA). There were also bands playing like Margaret's Daughter and Cortina Whiplash. One of the highlights was Karen Zoid on Saturday evening.

Since this was the first Pink Girlfest, a few minor teething problems were encountered. The horse-riding was more of a pony affair and due to bad weather the paragliding had be cancelled. The marketing could also have been a bit better - I and many others I chatted to only found out about the event about 1 or 2 weeks back. The venue also had be changed at the last minute because of some very ignorant townsfolk who protested when they found out their town would be overrun by lesbians. Sigh.

I've been a fan of Karen Zoid for some time and love her music. She's quite the legend in the South African music industry and is such an awesome artist. Her music moves from rock to poetry effortlessly. Karen Zoid has an amazing presence on stage and is hilarious with the anecdotes and thoughts she shares. She very aptly described the festival as Oppipoppi (on the doll) in reference to Oppikoppi (on the hill) a well-established annual music festival. Hopefully the name sticks :-).

A huge thank you and congratulations to Kerry Knowles and Judith Nel, the event organizers. They did an excellent job the first-time around and managed all the minor hiccups very well. I look forward to next year's Pink Girlfest.

Long live Oppipoppi!