By Briony French Oppikoppi - Unknown Brother It’s that time of year once again, when you have to pack your sleeping bags and tents and get yourselves down to one of South Africa’s biggest rock festivals ever. Where, I  hear you asking? Well, to the Oppikoppi Festival (on the farm near Northam in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.) This great event is brought to us all by Standard Bank, MK, Hilltop Live, Jose Cuervo, Tempo, FHM, Heat, the AA and Ticket Break, which is of course where you can get your tickets for this event. This year it was announced that Chevelle and Sum 41 would be joining the South African bands on stage, but unfortunately Chevelle had to back out of the concerts  because  recording of their new album is taking longer than expected.  Chevelle have stated that this is just a postponement and that they still intend on coming down to South Africa. Which, to be perfectly honest, I would love to go and see, as they have a  hard rock sound which I believe will be truly amazing if witnessed live.  In  Chevelle’s place will be The Used who will play on the 7th of August 2011 and then move on to Grand West Casino in Cape Town.

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Sum 41 will also be performing at Oppikoppi as part of their tour and will then go on to the Wave house at Gateway Durban.

So, if you’re into festivals where you sleep in tents and literally party all day and all night for 3 solid days, then Oppikoppi is definitely the music festival you need to attend.  I  haven’t ever ventured out to one of these Oppikoppi festivals as I am not an avid camper.  But I wouldn’t mind going for a day. I definitely would have gone if Chevelle hadn’t cancelled as I am a fan.

Friends who’ve attended this festival tell me  it’s an absolute jol and I hear you don’t really sleep much, so if you’re going don’t expect to get much rest from the live South African bands, to the DJs spinning good tunes and forcing even the tired to shake their booties, to the overseas bands that are coming, this festival sounds to me like something of a music-lover”s dream. Now, just imagine there were more international bands as well to bring a healthy balance of  ’local is lekker’ and the international scene…. Could be good for our music development… Not that we far behind.

Follow this link for a comprehensive line up of what to expect on which day.  It’ll enable you to see where you need to be when, to hear your favourite bands. Tickets are R550 per person, and a lot have already been sold, so if you don’t wish to be disappointed I suggest you get buying now!