Fancy getting all rustic like, learning to make cheese and biltong, distil “tequila”, crack a few whips and find fresh ways to feed your family from the wholesome earth?
You’ll get the chance to do all that and more at the first Slow Living Festival, to be held at the historic Karoo farm Wheatlands over the long weekend of March 21 to 24.
Slow Living is a collaboration with Slow Food International and the Slow Food Karoo convivium, together with the Wheatlands Sports Club.
The organisers, Slow Food Karoo, have created a refreshingly back-to-basics festival to be held at the club grounds on the farm about 50km outside Graaff-Reinet, on the R72 towards Port Elizabeth.
This working farm, famous in the area and steeped in eight generations of family history, is owned by Arthur and Diana Short, and David and Kirsten Short.
Wheatlands also has a proud sporting legacy dating back to the 1880s. Today the club – with four clay tennis courts, a cricket field and fully functioning club house – is still active and in very good use.
The Slow Living Festival would see families camp around the cricket field and clubhouse, with all the social events to take place in this area, organising committee head Rose Wright said.
“It’s all about getting out as a family into the Great Karoo’s clean and clear air to stretch the legs and soak up the healthy feeling of farm life, spending energy in a beautiful, fun and holistic fashion,” she said.
Meals will be provided by the club, with all three evening meals – a spitbraai, burger night and Karoo braai – to be cooked outdoors.
Evening meal tickets will cost around R130 and there will be bar facilities.
“There are toilets and hot showers at the club, and each basic campsite will also have its own long-drop,” Rose said.
Participants will, however, need to bring their own tents and camping gear along.
For those who want to get a workout while at the festival there will be route maps for running, walking or cycling along farm roads in the area.
Cricket is also on the cards, as is tennis at the club.
An important aspect of the festival will be a variety of artisanal workshops and master classes to be held in nearby farm kitchens, with participants learning to make everything from cheese, bread and beer to biltong and droëwors.
There will even be a whip-cracking competition for youngsters – though perhaps the parents will need this more!
Rose’s husband, well-known Graaff-Reinet chef and cookery book author Gordon Wright, first heard about the Slow Food movement about 10 years ago and, after spending time with the organisation in Italy, went on to establish the Karoo convivium in 2010.
Both he and Rose also serve on the national committee of Slow Food SA.
Founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986, Slow Food passionately promotes local food and traditional cooking, and has spread to countries around the globe.
Gordon will be doing the biltong-making workshop and will have copies of his cookbooks – Veld to Fork and Karoo Food – available for purchase and signing.
“He is also an active member of the Wheatlands Sports Club and, for his sins and with two sore knees, will be playing cricket there on the Saturday,” Rose quipped. Other local chefs and masters of food will also share their skills and expertise in various areas.
Qualified chef Karen McEwan, of Fairfield Farm in the Middelburg district, will present a workshop on how to make light, fresh and healthy salads and dressings from ingredients that are in season; a light dessert with herbs and fruits; and a creamy dessert made from local organic cream; as well as a light lemon and rooibos cocktail perfect for lazy summer days.
“Karen has an amazing organic vegetable garden, and is known for her garden tours and seed-preservation worshops,” Rose said.
“She also has a wonderful Instagram profile called My Garden Table.
“She is a real inspiration: In the Karoo you have to work with what you have, and what will grow in your area, and Karen is a great exponent of that.”
Tim Murray, from Roode Bloem Farm north of Graaff-Reinet, makes three different “tequilas” from the agave cactus though these are as yet only available in Graaff-Reinet.
He and his wife, Lisa, are also responsible for turning agave flower buds into a rather usual – but delicious – Karoo speciality.
Tim will do a spirit tasting on one of the evenings, and will also be doing a mozzarella cheese making workshop.
There will be a market on the Saturday, while festival evenings will be made up of “social gatherings and gentle music under the stars, with fires and the big moon, and an open mic session to be held for both aspiring and accomplished musos”, Rose said.
“The festival date was planned around a full moon so the nights are sure to be bright and beautiful.”
To book a campsite for the Slow Living Festival, send an e-mail to: wheatlandssportsclub@gmail.com.
For general festival information, to be considered for the programme or to book a stand for the Saturday market, e-mail Rose at tasteofkaroo@gmail.com