MUSIC: White Mountain Folk Festival

IF you want to get away from it all and chill out in a superb mountain setting while listening to acoustic performances by some of the country’s top artists, then look no further than the annual White Mountain Folk Festival.

Running from 24 to 27 September, this intimate, family-friendly festival is held at White Mountain Lodge near Giant’s Castle in the beautiful Central Drakensberg region of KwaZulu-Natal, only 34km from Estcourt on tarred roads and 200km from Durban.

On offer is a four-day programme of laid-back acoustic music, as well as a wide choice of outdoor leisure activities, arts and crafts, a beer market and assorted food stalls. Festival-goers can also make full use of the lodge’s facilities, including a restaurant, pub, games room, swimming pool and satellite TV.

Check out the following video of last year's festival to get a good idea of what you can expect...

White Mountain Festival 2008

How much are the tickets? I'm keen! (I hear you shout). Early Bird tickets are now on sale at Computicket for just R350, which is a saving of R150 on the gate price. This offer is limited to 500 tickets only, so make sure you get in early. Children under 12 pay R50. The price includes camping in the newly graded and grassed festival campsite overlooking the dam.

White Mountain

If you’ve ever been to Splashy Fen before, the White Mountain Festival is basically a smaller, more acoustic-sounding version. However, because of it smaller numbers, it is far more organised, controlled and comfortable – making the whole outdoor experience that much more enjoyable.

Now in its fourth year, White Mountain has quickly become a firm favourite on the events calendar and is perfectly timed to coincide with Heritage Day and the start of the school holidays. The line-up is currently being finalised and will be announced shortly.

For more information, visit www.whitemountain.co.za
or contact Pedro at 082 892 6176.

Click here to see the 2009 video:
White Mountain Folk Fest 2009

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N!ERGY TENT: Camping in the digital age

JUST when I thought camping was the last resort for getting away from the digital world and getting back in touch with nature, ‘camping specialists’ release what they call the N!ergy tent.

What this modern day tent does is allow one to recharge and make use of a variety of 12volt gadgets within this secluded eight-man fabric bubble. While the birds and wildlife creatures experience the real outdoors, the N!ergy tent camper can operate a DVD player, MP3 player, hair dryer, a weather station, and even vacuum their home-resembling living space. With a concealed wiring system, yet a glitzy array of glowing outlets, the tent looks like a mini Hollywood – with all the best of home entertainment concealed inside.

Eureka N!ergy Tent

Products such as these are giving new meaning to “roughing it out in the outdoors”, but to experienced campers the N!ergy tent should be seen as an abomination of the true camping experience. What will become of the days of sitting around a smoky campfire, roasting marshmallows, and bonding with nature and one’s family? Camping is just not what it used to be.

But for those who enjoy their comfort yet wish to disillusion themselves with an experience of ‘camping’, the N!ergy tent might be just for you. Allah forbid that the product ever reaches South African shores, but for those who wish to import such crap it goes for $279 (roughly R2000 by today’s standards).

But don’t be fooled yet – the E! Power Pak (battery) comes separately at another $60 (R480). But for the patriotic campers who aren’t afraid to really rough it out and be away from their iPod and hair dryer for a few days, you can pick up a decent tent for about 500 bucks.

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