Catch the sounds of the city

Published Apr 16, 2015

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Have you ever been to a music festival where you have to camp in the bundu and shower and go the toilet behind bushes?

For some, that’s pretty “rad”, as the youngsters would say, but if you are the more urban type and need to be close to all your comforts, then the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival taking place in Cape Town on May 2 and the next day at Mark’s Park in Emmarentia, Joburg is the place to be.

The event will see music outfits like The Kiffness, Jimmy Nevis, Modest Mouse, American Authors, Klingande, Jeremy Loops, PHFat, Kahn, Jesse Clegg, Connell Cruise and Gangs Of Ballet, among others, showcasing their considerable talents.

Tonight caught up with founder of the four-year old festival, Damon Forbes, who walked us through what to expect.

“The preparations are going great and we are looking at having inner city people enjoy a festival setting. We are not looking at them just enjoying music from one stage with one band and kind of getting stuck. It’s about making difficult choices of what to watch because there is a lot going on,” he said.

For him, the success of this festival greatly relies on finding ways to keep the people interested in the various activities lined up.

“I want people to enjoy the wide arrary of entertainment that we have planned for them. From a band perspective there is great diversity and brilliantly constructed stages, but at the same time there is good food and a well-constructed environment that will allow people to enjoy themselves throughout the day. We are avoiding a situation where you are stuck for eight hours, relatively immobile,” Forbes explained.

Being the fourth instalment of the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival, Forbes was happy to share the successes of past festivals.

“We have had loads of success in the past because it is a new concept. So each year it has been successful enough that we managed to grow. When we initially started it was relatively small stages, but as we grew we managed to add more diversity in terms of our bands and the size of our stages. When you get more people you are in a position to do more things.

“I think my main point is that we have grown enough to attract bigger numbers. That growth means we can put it back into a bigger event each year. So from a quality perspective, we haven’t cut corners as the quality of production is never negotiable. I can’t afford to see people dissapointed,” he explained.

You might be wondering where an idea like the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival came from. As the founder and a lover of music, Forbes explained that he was inspired by what he had experienced overseas.

“I travel a lot and if you look at South Africa you will realise that we have a couple of great festivals, but they are all either in the bush or way out of people’s way. We all had our time when we went to Oppikoppi and we all like going to Rocking The Daises, but some of us have children now or responsibilities or we simply don’t like camping. If you look at the global trend, you will realise that there is a major need for a festival where inner city people have as good a time with great bands as you would if you were going to the festivals outside the city,” he said.

“I have a family now and I like music, but there aren’t a lot of choices for me now. I would like to know that I can go to a festival where I am watching one stage and my son or other varsity kids can be watching another stage and enjoying themselves,” he added.

There are several bands that will be on the line-up for the two venues and Forbes talked about how they were selected and their function within the festival.

“I love South African music so, for me, we had to promote that. That said, we also had to book 20 bands and since I booked a lot of bands last year, I try not to rebook the same acts twice in a short period to keep our line-up fresh. We have groups like PHFat which are youth-oriented and then you have cross-over outfits like Prime Circle and American Authors. Then there are also a number of indie bands like Modest Mouse and Jeremy Loops which have their own markets.With all this said and done, I am hoping that the people with these specific music tastes also get to experience other groups that they did not know of,” he said.

With only two-and-a-half weeks left, Forbes is confident that the festival will be a success because a lot of people have shown interest.

“We are looking at about 10 000 people in Joburg this time around and that’s an educated guess from the ticket sales that we have made so far.

WIN! WIN! WIN!

TWO sets of double tickets to the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival in Cape Town or Joburg are on offer to lucky winners who answer this question: Which ex-Parlotones frontman will be playing at the Parklife Gourmet Food and Music Festival?

Send your answer together with your contact details to [email protected].

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