4 reasons why I love Park Acoustics

Park Acoustics has grown from a tiny event (which attracted less than 200 people) in 2010 to a mostly sold-out monthly must-attend musical event in the Capital City (which attracts thousands of music lovers).

In case you did not know, Park Acoustics is held on the last Sunday of the month from January to November. It’s mostly held at Fort Schanskop (which is also the highest point in Pretoria) and is sometimes held above the amphitheatre at the Voortrekker Monument. The venue usually depends on the amount of bands / DJ’s that are booked for the event. (Fort Schanskop can accommodate 2,000 people and the venue above the amphitheatre can accommodate 6,000).

I really love this monthly live music event, so today I’m giving you 4 reasons why I do:

1. The line-ups are almost always awesome – For those of you who have not made your way to Park Acoustics, you should know that the musical and stand-up comedy line-ups are top notch.

The live music stage has seen awesome performances by artists like Yoav, Mango Groove, Goldfish, Koos Kombuis, Piet Botha, Springbok Nude Girls, New Academics, Taxi Violence, Van Coke Kartel, Bittereinder, Fokofpolisiekar, Jack Parow, Francois Van Coke, aKING, Thieve, Desmond & The Tutus, Albert Frost, The Black Cat Bones, Shortstraw, ISO, Hellcats and many others.

Comedians that have had crowds in stitches at Park Acoustics include Melt Sieberhagen, John Vlismas, Chris Forrest, Monique Nortje, Hannes Brummer and various others.

2. You can take in your own booze – Park Acoustics allows you to take in your own booze (as long it’s in a plastic container / bottle). Try to leave the Stroh rum at home if you’re going though – nobody likes a too drunk doos and you probably want that kind of hangover on a Monday…

If you run out of booze, there’s a fully stocked cash bar available which sells cold beer and spirits.

3. A wide selection of food vendors are available – You won’t go hungry at Park Acoustics. Braaiboy offers you tasty boeries and pulled pork sandwiches and there are vendors offering tasty burgers, pizza cones, subs and prego rolls. If you don’t want to buy food there, you’re welcome to take along your own snacks or meat (if you want Braaiboy to braai it for you).

4. The vibe is abso-fucking-lutely amazing – Cape Townians might disagree with me, but there ain’t no party like a Pretoria party. The vibe at Park Acoustics usually starts out very chilled in the morning and as the music and booze starts kicking in, the party vibe kicks in. How hard you want to party is ultimately up to you and how bad you want your Monday hangover to be…

If you’re not from Pretoria and scared that you won’t be making friends, chill – 012 folks are generally nice and welcoming people (unless you don’t act like a doos and try to steal their booze or disrespect their mothers, oumas or girlfriends).

Well, there you have it, 4 reasons why I love Park Acoustics. If you want to attend the next one (which will feature performances by Koos Kombuis, Albert Frost and others) enter our competition NOW!

Photos by Christelle Duvenage & Henk Steyn

Watch this space for regular updates in the Music and Opinion categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.