The Easter Holidays were full of fun as we prepared for Herfsfees, a music festival with workshops and a parade. The Creative Works team made costumes for the children who wanted to join the parade that started off the festival on Friday, 6 April.
The days that led up to the festival were spent making costumes and preparing the children for the big day. The children were divided into groups with each group dressed up according to their theme.
The parade featured local isiXhosa dance groups, the Kaapse Klopse, children from different schools in Stanford and visitors and residents that joined in the excitement. The children had great fun participating in the parade in their colourful costumes, showing off their creations.
On Saturday, 7 April, the children and youth of Stanford were invited to collaborate with artists at Die Bron Primary School where workshops with bands such as Tribal Echo and Ibuyambo were offered.
Herfsfees aims to be an annual festival in the village of Stanford and we want to use this celebration to build-up programs where children can work through the year towards this big event. They will participate in making costumes, preparing dance and song performances and contributing poetry, as well as learning from established artists how to draw, write songs and perform on a stage.
The festival aims to become a unique collaborative event; for the village, by the village. Festivals are about fun and having a good time, and our Herfsfees is hopefully going to have a lot of that. A festival also brings the community together, and inspires the individuals to engage with and celebrate each others’ diversity.
The aim for Creative Works in joining this annual event is to give the children and youth of Stanford the opportunity to acquire skills by collaborating with artists, find self expression in the arts, come together as a community and celebrate diversity and individuality.
