My 2 Cents on the first Otterlake Easter Festival

Otterlake Easter Festival took place in the Kameelfontein district near Pretoria over the Easter Weekend. It was the first time that a full on music festival has been held at this venue.

I shut down my work PC at 4:30 PM on Thursday the 28th of March and rushed off the Otterlake Easter Festival. After setting up camp I made sure that I caught awesome shows by South African music legend Valiant Swart and hard core rock ‘n rollers The Smoking Mojos before I settled into the legendary bar. I eventually finished my last drink in the campsite around 4 AM on the Friday morning. It was an evening filled with extreme laughter and numerous Jagermeister shots that I’ll never forget.

I got up around 10 AM on the Friday morning and settled for some breakfast and strong coffee before gathering enough strength to have my first draught at 12 noon. This turned into a slight day drinking session before awesome acts like Shotgun Tori, Die See, The Stray Natives and Jack Hammer performed. The festival grounds started filling up throughout the day. Many Pretorians drove 40 km from the dead quiet capital city to spend the day at Otterlake Easter Festival and they were not disappointed.

Besides the acts I just mentioned they were also treated to some awesome Old School Rock ‘n Roll by Aidan Martin and his band, a kick-ass live show which showed why they won the MK Award for best live act this year by the Black Cat Bones, some nostalgic vibes by Guns ‘n Posers and some heavy metal (which featured a Sepultura cover) by Boargazm. Friday night ended up being an early night for me though (I must be getting old or something).

After a fresh shower and some KFC I made my way back to the festival on Saturday afternoon in time to catch awesome Bloemfontein based act Wolfgang Marow, Hoot ‘n Anny, the 7 piece awesomeness that is Crystal Park and The Howlin’ Shibanski. Next festival goers were amazed by the biggest bonfire some of them have seen in their lives, before being treated to awesome live performances by Mrs B, Juggernaught, The Stella’s and Cortina Whiplash. Eventually I ended up partying it up on the balcony at Otterlake Easter Festival into the early hours of the morning. PS: The fire was huge, if you don’t believe me, check out the video below (Kudos to Conrad Jamneck and his legendary VW Kombi for the background tunes).

Sunday was a very chilled out day overall. I was introduced to Afrikaans acoustic guru Kabaal (Klankbaan) and Johnny and the Bomb and blown away by awesome live shows by Johnny and The Bomb, The Smoking Mojos, The Dying Breed and The Fake Leather Blues Band before making my way home.

I have to say that I was impressed overall with Otterlake Easter Festival. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the venue and there were no sound issues. The vibe was awesome. The tunes were awesome. The People were awesome. Although, I do feel that there was a lack of variety when it came to the food stalls and that the alcohol was a little pricey, but I’m pretty sure that it’s something the organizers can improve upon. Kudos to Frans, Jessica, Conrad, Henry and everyone else involved in the organization.

Check out some of the photos that I took at Otterlake Easter Festival below. You can view the full album on the Henno Kruger Photography Page on Facebook

Looks like it was a lot of fun, right? I really hope there is another Otterlake Easter Festival next year. Despite the fact that some idiot from Kameelfontein condemned this rock festival on Easter Weekend, it was pretty schweet.

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