A weekend in the Bushfire
Mpho Tlale | Friday June 6, 2014 15:43
Every time I get an opportunity to travel, I embrace the trip with both hands. When I am on the road there is a certain level of freedom I experience that I still cannot understand to date. It’s a form of liberation only my soul is able to grasp and comprehend. Dwelling on it would really be a waste of time as I doubt any answer would come forth.
This past weekend, I treated myself to my yearly dose of Swaziland’s MTN Bushfire Festival. This was my third attendance at the festival, the first having been in 2012. I would like to believe that I am not a person easily impressed but I was hooked from my first Bushfire experience.
I have now come to embrace the festival as my yearly mid-year retreat that kind of balances everything in my space, both personal and professional.
It was planned that we leave Botswana as early as possible to get to the border when it opened and indeed we managed to achieve that. Last minute complications saw my travel buddy return home when we reached Rustenburg and I was left to continue the road with newly found travel-mates. I had never travelled with them before but after the Swazi experience I can vouch that more trips will be birthed from our union. Ntume and Lucky made the trip to Swaziland pretty much shorter and a sisterly bond was formed on the way.
By the time we reached the South African side of the border at the Oshoek Border Post, it was somewhere around 1700hrs, but the traffic was beyond bad. It was a bumper-to-bumper situation that seemed to last for a lifetime. We were eventually forced to ditch our manners of queuing up and begin hustling our way into getting our passports stamped.
Although it was a battle and a half, in three hours or so we tasted victory and proceeded to the Swaziland Ngwenya Border side, which offered a smoother and shorter transition, compared to the SA side.
The service was even way better and it is apparent that the Government of Swaziland, through its immigration officials, appreciates the Bushfire Festival’s magnitude and what it means to the mountain kingdom’s economy. Some officers even wore branded Festival t-shirts! The partying immediately began as we reached the House on Fire venue and continued until the early hours of the next morning. In my previous years there, the Festival always started early and on time more so that Saturday is the main highlight of it all. However this year, it nearly lost the plot and started late due to some technical glitches.
But that can be forgiven because once everything was sorted, the momentum picked up and the Bushfire that I have come to know and appreciate was back on track. The people were merry and enjoyed a funfilled weekend that extended to Sunday evening.
Apart from the three days of partying, Bushfire signifies a lot of things to me. There are so many reasons why I love the Festival. Most importantly it gives me a sense of belonging in knowing that there are people out there in Africa who appreciate the arts and can actually drive all the way to Mbabane just for a weekend’s dose of them.
It’s all for the love of superb music, poetry, art, food, ambiance and socialising among others. These experiences are all accompanied by the breath-taking scenery of the Malkerns Mountains as well as sunsets in the evening. Bushfire just offers moments of reflection and appreciation while one is having fun at the same time.
Another reason why the festival still remains my favourite to date is the anonymity that it comes with. A form of anonymity that Botswana will never offer me. There I dance, dress and shout with the same amount of vigour a prisoner does when she breaks free from shackles that keep her captive. I do what I want. There are no “Ke gore ke ngwana wa ga mang (Whose child is she)?”,type of questions. The Bushfire crowd’s souls get in sync while appreciating the arts in all the forms and their levels. Exceptions always come in the form of VIP’s who I always feel would do better with a splash of some miracle water to loosen their souls.
This year I couldn’t help but notice that there were a lot of Batswana who made their way to the event, compared to previous years. However when in foreign lands, I have learnt to limit my socialisation with my fellow countrymen and women. I did the same at the Bushfire Festival, simply because I did not want my vibe to be brutally murdered by people who even across borders are stiff and behave as if anybody cares about their surname or how many sugars they take their tea with.
Anyway I am a sucker for knowledge and appreciate the cultural exchange that comes with the festival. Bushfire brings about a beautiful merger of people of the world who have a common goal of appreciating music and all that comes with it. It bring together Africa as Batswana, Mozambicans, Basotho and South Africans among other nations take their fire to the festival. Music has the power to bring together and unite people, even if they may not understand the lyrics to a song.
Over and above everything I loved the hospitality of the Swati people. They are very respectful, humble and down to earth people who always host people with grace. Batswana could learn a thing or two on courtesy from them while on the other hand local events organisers and promoters could really benchmark from the Bushfire Festival. When an artist is booked in and on the line up, they do actually come no matter whether from Columbia, Reunion Islands, Spain, UK or even from the furthest country in Africa. The Bushfire experience this year accorded me the beauty of a road trip that allowed me to enjoy the scenery on the way to and from Swaziland. I am forever stunned by the view of the Swazi mountains. The trip back home is always painful and I wished I actually had powers to turn back the hands of time. Anyway all was not lost as I got to meet with the author of a book I am currently reading called Almost Sleeping My Way to Timbuktu. I love the book and what it stands for and thus meeting Sihle Khumalo was the cherry on top. How do you not respect and rate an English-speaking man who has been to Francophone countries that include Senegal, Mali, Benin, Togo and Ghana and came back to tell a wonderful story that shows Africa as a beautiful continent that can be travelled? This beats the Westernised version of the Africa we are brainwashed into seeing. Sihle’s book has given me hope and inspiration to go up into Africa on a festival chasing mission and just be one and in sync with my continent. African stories are better placed and told through an African perspective. While recovering from the Swaziland fever I will continue with my read of Almost Sleeping My Way to Timbuktu and once in a while look at the autograph on it that reads “Dear Mpho. Great meeting you at the Nelson Mandela Square. I hope we can do one major trip together. Sihle.02/06/2014.”