The 21 houses in which the different performances take place, range from small township abodes to some of Darling’s grand Cape Dutch homes, and the owners play host to the guests and introduce the performers who hail from South Africa and Europe. Each ‘theatre venue’ received a donation of R600 for volunteering their homes for the three days.
Several visual artists in Darling opened their studios for visitors to meet them and view their art. The craft market hosted at Evita se Perron had a total of 37 stalls of which most were local and others from further afield. The proceeds of the fee charged for the weekend is donated every year to The Darling Trust and this year R1,800 was contributed. Aside from the performance aspect two workshops were conducted in film and dance. Over a two-week period, a dance team of five facilitators from Crosstown DH worked with 45 youngsters from the local community and taught them several hip hop sequences that they performed in the street daily during the fest, to the applause of appreciative and enthusiastic crowds at Evita se Perron. For the local children of all ages this was a life changing experience for most in terms of confidence building and personal skills and development. They came from the 3 schools in Darling including children from Mamre and the San Culture and Education Centre, !Khwa ttu on the Cape West Coast. Crosstown DH is a successful talent development project based in The Hague in the Netherlands that enables young dance talent to develop their creative talents and ambitions under professional supervision. We look forward to being able to invite them back. Independent filmmaker Stefan Hurter began his long-term training project with a group of aspiring young filmmakers from the three schools in Darling. Under the name of the Number One Film Crew, these youngsters, together with Hurter, approached the Voorkamerfest as their first practical project and filmed everything that happened in and around the Evita se Perron and at various voorkamer venues throughout the festival weekend. They will continue learning about this craft throughout the remainder of the year. The town was bursting at the seams this year with all available accommodation filled months in advance; local eateries were booked out by the time the weekend commenced.
The Voorkamerfest is a truly South African cultural experience that offers an exciting mix of theatre genres to suit all tastes. To accommodate disappointed latecomers this year, Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout (AKA Pieter-Dirk Uys) herself performed two shows at the Perron entitled An Afternoon with Evita Bezuidenhout that also played to capacity audiences! Being held during the first week of Spring means that the flowers along the West Coast have begun blooming and the picturesque drive to Darling becomes a major attraction. Another draw card is the Darling Wine Route boasting excellent wine estates of which 4 donated wine to this year’s performers and VIP’s as well as wine tasting over the three days at Evita se Perron. FIESTA, a well known South African TV program which covers festivals throughout the country, chose this year’s Voorkamerfest as one of the ‘must see’ festivals and put together a hour program filled with interviews with artists, audience, taxi owners, venue hosts and volunteers as well as exerts from the various shows throughout the weekend. It was aired on the 28th September. This we also great media coverage for Darling as additional interviews were conducted with the tourism bureau, the Wild Flower Society and local visual artists. The Western Province Premier, Helen Zille and her husband were invited and attended the first route of the festival. A great honour for Voorkamerfest!
Again, thank you to all who make this daringly diverse and dazzling Darling event possible and we look forward to having you on board next year - that means all of you: audience, artists, crew, theatre hosts, taxi owners and sponsors! Festival greetings and may your Christmas and New Year be safe and peaceful! The Voorkamerfest team! Tasha St John-Reid Next Voorkamerfest: 3/4/5 September 2010 |
Sponsors Voorkamerfest 2009 was made possible by generous support from many organisations both in South Africa and abroad. The organising team gratefully acknowledges the following South African sponsors’, namely Artscape, On Broadway and Distell as well as the international support that has come predominantly from the Netherlands and includes Stigting Doen, the Royal Carré Theatre, Koningkrijk der Nederlanden, Bos Theaterproducties, Rupert Stigting, Van Ewijck-Stigting, BB-Promotion, the Nieuwe Luxor Theater, Theater de Veste, CC. Geert Teis Theater, Schouwburg Orpeus, De Kampanje Theater, De Kom, Schouwburg Amstelveen, Randstad Regio Theaters, Korzo Producties, De Lieve Vrouw, Theater De Flint, Interactions SA-NL, Cramgo and Active Tickets. Founding Sponsor
Main Sponsors
Please visit our Sponsors page for a complete list of sponsors including our Performers Amanda Strydom Please visit our Performers page for photos and more information. |
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