1. Take 30 local bands, a crowd dressed for the beach and an unlimited
supply of bright blue cocktails and you’ve got South Africa’s best music
festival. Amy Rankin gets wet and wild at Up The Creek.
Photography by Belia Oh
South Africa
Up The Creekers wallow in the
Breede River while Beach Party
perform on the river stage.
#38 get lost ISSUE #43 ISSUE #43 get lost #39get in the know There are many pools and ponds along Breede River where people fish for bass, catfish and carp.get in the know Three years ago there was a wedding ceremony held on the river, with the bride arriving in a rowboat.

2. I
t’s Friday afternoon and I’m itching to get on the road.
From Cape Town it’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive – three, if
there’s traffic – and I just want to leave. The car is packed to the
brim with doonas, eskies, drums, fishing rods, wine and towels. Being
a pedant, I go over my checklist one more time. “Just relax,” says my
husband Tim. “If we’ve forgotten something we can always borrow it.”
He’s an ultra-mellow surfer dude, hence my need to overcompensate on
the organising front. “We need to stop at Riviersonderend to get ice,”
I say. It’s the last town before the dirt road turn-off to Up The Creek.
This will be my sixth Up The Creek and, for so many reasons, it’s my
favourite of all the South African music festivals on the calendar. Tickets
are limited to about 3000 people, but the quality of music is as good
as you’ll find anywhere in the country. Anyone who’s done their share
of multi-day camping festivals will also
appreciate that here there are toilets,
proper toilets. OK, there are portaloos
too, but they can be avoided.
At the entrance, we’re welcomed by
Christina Rovere. As the chief hands-
on admin-organising accommodation-
sorting festival helper, she’s a woman you want to know. “I see you are
glamping this year,” she says, spotting the two bands on my arm. A
couple of sweaty, dusty men greet us with wheelbarrows ready to carry
our gear to the tent that’s been set up by Heartbreak Motel – it’s only 30
metres away, but we let them. After all, we are camping in style this year.
Well, as stylish as mattresses in a large tent with a complimentary bottle
of Old Brown Sherry and two tin mugs can be.
Not long after setting off to find some friends – first-timers camping in
the pleb section – I spy a white-bearded, wild-eyed man sporting a floral
hat that looks as though it’s been in a dress-up box since the 1980s.
It’s Anthony Bumstead, one of the organisers of this middle-of-nowhere
gathering of licorice allsorts folk. He’s shouting orders at the sound guys
in preparation for the night’s gigs. The first Up The Creek, held in 1990,
was really just an awesome birthday party thrown for Bumstead by his
pal Ann Sowden. The event grew, he went off to pursue other dreams
and passions, but got involved again six years ago and now makes
most of the musical decisions.
“The first thing we have to do,” I say to the first timers when I finally
locate them, “is go look at the river.” Water bottles drained of H2O
and refilled with gin, tonic and slices of lemon – we are nothing if not
civilised – we head down to the water’s edge. The daytime River Stage
is one of Up The Creek’s USPs. The bands play on shore while revellers
on li-los, tyre tubes and giant blow-up animals kick back and watch the
action. Last year the waterline was so low the stage was set up on a
sand bank in the middle of the river, with everyone floating around it.
This year is going to be quite different – we’ve had a lot of unexpected
rain and the river is in full flow, meaning the stage has been shifted
back to the grassy bank. The sky starts turning pale pink and we decide
the river can wait till tomorrow – it’s time to hit the bar.
“What’s with all the blue drinks?” asks one of the newbies. They’re
called Titanics and have been the festival cocktail for as many years as
anyone can remember. I can’t really say what’s in one – vodka (or perhaps
it’s gin), triple sec, Blue Curaçao and lemonade probably, plus whatever
other alcohol is left over by Sunday, all served in half-litre plastic mugs.
We order three and head to the post-sunset main stage.
Up The Creek is not really a platform for mainstream pop acts. Rather,
you’ll discover the best rock bands, shredding blues guitarists, African
drummers, skinny-jean punks and a mix of alternative, experimental and
folk music. Most are local acts, but those who aren’t have some kind of
link to South Africa.
After years of trial and error, we’ve developed a set or rules for festival
survival. Never go too big on the first night. No man gets left behind.
Always pack antacids. With this mantra running through my soon-to-meet-
iceberg Titanic’d brain, I head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long,
hot day, and I want to be ready for it.
There should definitely be a rule about endless queues at coffee
stations at 8.30am during a festival. As I hold a spot in one, Tim goes in
search of another. Some 20 minutes later he returns with two steaming
espressos. At this point I’m so close to the front, I order a second round
– the obliging barista taking my BYO soy milk to make a cappuccino.
Even this early things are heating up, so we slather ourselves in
sunscreen, don our cossies, blow up the tubes and head to the only place
offering relief from the heat – the river. Almost immediately I lose Tim in
the crowds of swimmers and blown-up dinosaurs, giraffes and sharks.
The Nomadic Orchestra fires up jazzy brass instruments while I test the
water’s depth. Passers-by offer sips of beer and the MC announces the
winners of the best floating bar competition. A couple of hours later – you
lose track of time here – I finally locate Tim, who informs me grumpily
that he left his fishing tackle behind. I sympathise for a minute, but have
other priorities – two more Creek virgins are arriving from Cape Town and
they need a proper welcome. I fetch the coldest drink I have – a bottle of
tequila that has been buried in ice since our arrival.
”You made it!” I say, jumping with joy and pouring shots down their
throats. Wandering aimlessly, we meet guys who’ve set up a tight rope
between two trees and are attempting to walk across. On another stage,
South Africa
The energy is contagious – everywhere you look people are
singing, jumping, laughing and dancing. The lead singer from
Hot Water sets his guitar on fire and the crowd goes wild.
One of South Africa’s blues harpists,
Dave Ferguson, jams with friends.
Kobus de Kock of
The Black Cat Bones.
Escaping the heat
on a tented li-lo.
Watermelons: first
a meal, then a hat.
The crowd at
the main stage.
#40 get lost ISSUE #43 ISSUE #43 get lost #41get in the know Reinforcing its green credentials, Up The Creek offers a TrashBack system, giving punters ‘trash bucks’ for their empty drink cans.get in the know It’s not unknown for the unusual – ballerina flash mobs, stage invasions by men with flaming newspapers in their butts – to happen at the festival.

3. Get There
Up The Creek is held on the Breede River outside Swellendam, about
three hours’ drive from Cape Town. South African Airways flies direct from Perth to
Johannesburg, with connections to Perth from other Australian capitals and from
Jo’burg to Cape Town. Prices start at about AU$2065.
flysaa.com
Stay There
You can pitch your own tent at Up The Creek or opt for the glamping
option, Heartbreak Motel, and have your campsite set up for you with tent, mattresses
and linen, a VIP shower and toilet block, chill zone, breakfast and 24-hour security.
Tickets for 2015 Up The Creek (29 January to 1 February) cost from about AU$50.
Heartbreak Motel Cadillac camping starts at about AU$280 a tent for the three days.
upthecreek.co.za
heartbreakmotel.co.za
Get Informed
To find more information on travelling in South Africa, including around
Swellendam and the Western Cape, head to the official website.
southafrica.net
South Africa
GET PLANNINGlocal comedians are cracking jokes while sarong-clad girls doze on picnic
blankets. As attractive as these distractions seem, we decide to seek
shade and replenish drinks before heading back down to the river for
an afternoon swim.
As evening draws near, it’s time to regroup in front of the main stage.
The energy is contagious – everywhere you look people are singing,
jumping, laughing and dancing. The lead singer from world-music band
Hot Water sets his guitar on fire and the crowd goes wild. School friends
I haven’t seen in years appear in front of me and we down shots from
Coke bottle caps. The rest of the night turns into a blur of hugs, high-
fives and drunken conversations. This Titanic is going down.
Sunday morning arrives and something stronger than a coffee is
necessary. My aching head will only be saved by one thing: a plunge into
the river. Well, that, two aspirin, a bacon-and-egg sandwich and a swig of
free sherry. I rally the troops and we head down to the water for a lazy li-lo
drift before the Sunday jam session, also known as the Church Service.
Musicians from all the bands get together, swapping in and out like
tag teams and jamming some innovative and occasionally downright
radical improvisational tunes. This is my favourite part of the festival, but
it’s also bittersweet – the end is near. I dance in my swimmers with my
inflatable tube around my hips as pack-up time edges ever closer. I attempt
a game of hide-and-seek with Tim, making excuses for my constant
disappearances to say goodbye to one person or the other until he looks
at me sympathetically and says, “Baby, there’s always next year.”
Cape Town band Grassy Spark
plays to the crowd.
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ESCAPE TO THE BEST
OF SYDNEY AT QT
Enjoy two nights in a QT Deluxe King room and design your QT experience
with your choice of one of the following three options:
• One dinner for two at Gowings Bar Grill OR
• Breakfast daily at the Gowings Bar Grill OR
• A one hour spaQ treatment for her and a
haircut or Don Shave for him
#42 get lost ISSUE #43 get in the know Lifeguards man the river at all times to keep Up The Creek running smoothly.