A Bit about Darling Voorkamerfest

Widely regarded as one of the most unique arts festivals in the world, the Voorkamerfest takes place annually during the first week of September.

The 21 houses in which the different performances take place, range from small township abodes to some of Darling’s grand Cape Dutch homes, and the owners play host to the guests and introduce the performers who hail from South Africa and Europe. Each ‘theatre venue’ received a donation of R600 for volunteering their homes for the three days.

Several visual artists in Darling opened their studios for visitors to meet them and view their art. The craft market hosted at Evita se Perron had a total of 37 stalls of which most were local and others from further afield. The proceeds of the fee charged for the weekend is donated every year to The Darling Trust and this year R1,800 was contributed.

Aside from the performance aspect two workshops were conducted in film and dance.

Over a two-week period, a dance team of five facilitators from Crosstown DH worked with 45 youngsters from the local community and taught them several hip hop sequences that they performed in the street daily during the fest, to the applause of appreciative and enthusiastic crowds at Evita se Perron. For the local children of all ages this was a life changing experience for most in terms of confidence building and personal skills and development. They came from the 3 schools in Darling including children from Mamre and the San Culture and Education Centre, !Khwa ttu on the Cape West Coast. Crosstown DH is a successful talent development project based in The Hague in the Netherlands that enables young dance talent to develop their creative talents and ambitions under professional supervision. We look forward to being able to invite them back.

Independent filmmaker Stefan Hurter began his long-term training project with a group of aspiring young filmmakers from the three schools in Darling. Under the name of the Number One Film Crew, these youngsters, together with Hurter, approached the Voorkamerfest as their first practical project and filmed everything that happened in and around the Evita se Perron and at various voorkamer venues throughout the festival weekend. They will continue learning about this craft throughout the remainder of the year.

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