Colourful, eccentric and as sparkly as a sequin jacket, the Flamjangled Tea Party is my favourite summer music festival of them all.
Here’s why:
It’s one giant dress up party (with a competition for best dressed, which this year was won by a giant man-vulture)
It’s small (no queueing for beers or porta-loos)
There are lots of friendly hippies (with clean hair)
The green police blow whistles at anyone littering
There’s a group barn dancing lesson on Saturday night to Achy Breaky Hart
There’s the Miniscule of Sound, essentially a portaloo-sized cardboard box covered in tinfoil with a bouncer, dj, mirror ball and red carpet, which is the best club in the world (literally)
It’s hard to describe this weekend of flamboyance, sequins and glitter in words, so I thought I’d do it in pictures instead.
Tent erection issues were forgotten after the first beer…
… And a dip in the dam
After which it was time for the dancing to begin.
Mixed in with a bit of acro-yoga…
…And some hula hooping
But it’s really the costumes that make Flamjangled stand out from the rest of the festivals. There were some amazing ones this year:
The pirate look was a strong one for 2013
No festival is complete without a guy playing a banjo
I loved seeing Al Bairre live for the first time…
…And barn dancing drunkenly along with hundreds of other inebriated festival-goers (who somehow seemed a lot more co-ordinated than me)
But the highlight of my festival experience was dancing in the tiny Miniscule of Sound for hours with my band of pirates
The Flamjangled Tea Party happens at Countermanskloof Wine Farm in Durbanville, a close 20 minute drive from Cape Town, every March.
Tickets this year ranged from R200 for Sunday to R400 for a full weekend pass.
Go to http://www.theteaparty.co.za/why/ for details of next year’s festival closer to the time.
