When I excitedly told my friends about the STIHL Lumberjack Festival taking place at Lievland Wine Farm in Stellenbosch they all laughed and started humming the Lumberjack Song, or raised their eyebrows and said “Ah, off to lasso yerself a lumberjack then”. When I told my mother about all the manly-men I was hoping to watch at the festival she said “Really? Do they have manly-men in Cape Town?”
Determined to find out if there were indeed manly-men in Cape Town (and could I lassoo myself one?) myself and a friend set off for the STIHL Lumberjack Festival on a cloudy Saturday afternoon in April. We arrived in a cloud of dust to a lot of sawdust and orange. There were also a lot of men.
What followed was an afternoon with a difference. We sauntered down to the games area and witnessed guys of all shapes and sizes trying out their hand at various competitions, including tree climbing, team sawing, chainsawing and axe throwing. Chainsaws were squealing, there was sawdust everywhere, people were cheering and muscles were rippling. You could literally smell the raw scent of testosterone mingling with the sweet smell of sawdust. It was quite fantastic. There was another game of skill called the Kaboom Run (I think) which involved contestants running along pallets floating on the farm’s dam. It was extremely entertaining and the MC had an awesome sense of humour. I almost wanted to have a go, but the thought of falling into a cold dam in my white shirt put that thought away fairly swiftly! Then it was off to watch people climb up trees and swing from them in harnesses. Also appealing, but being somewhat on the lazy side I opted not to climb up the embankment to get there. Axe throwing was also something we thought of participating in, but ended up having more fun watching people getting out all their pent-up frustrations out by chucking their axe into a clump of stumps. Watching some of the women giving it a go I would hazzard a guess that their husbands choose not to come home smelling of beer in the wee hours of the morning.
After all that activity (well, watching it) it was time for some refreshments. A big sign saying “BEER” pointed us in the right direction. Thanks to Forresters there was beer on tap which proved to be very popular (because real men drink beer!) There was also Red Bull, BOS Iced Tea, vodka and even coffee. Once the important beverage-finding task had been completed, we decided to forage for food. We settled on a Steers burger after pondering whether to have a curry or a schwarma. Tummies full and beers in hand, we sat down on a hay bale and watched life go by for a while. Kids were running around barefoot, flitting between the jumping castles and a lumberjack version of putt-putt, where a leaf blower replaced a golf club. There were boats on the dam and giant transparent ball that seemed to roll down the hill at quite a speed – with people in it. Many people had dressed for the occasion, sporting checked shirts, denim and boots. Most of all everyone seemed to be having a good time. Even better was that there was plenty of eye-candy and manly-men.
Fun aside, there was an important aspect to this festival, which was another reason I was keen to support it. The trees used for the lumberjack events were alien trees on the farm and this was a savvy way to eliminate them. Then, once everyone had finished chopping down trees, GreenPop was there to get everyone to plant trees. A very clever initiative, especially when you consider that in Africa we have less than 0.5% of our forest cover left. We all got a demonstration, learnt about the importance of trees (oxygen – we need it to survive!), made up war cries and planted a tree. For all those who got involved, you’ll be glad to know that you have planted one out the 12 trees you should be planting every year of your life to make up for your carbon footprint.
After tree planting, prizes were handed out and Jeremy Loops entertained the crowd. It was much like being at a Kirstenbosch summer concert. Except there was beer on tap, the smell of sawdust and whole lot of manly-men. I really hope they have another festival next year. My friend is going to take her boyfriend along to see if he’s manly enough to wield a chainsaw. I am taking my lassoo…
