What happens when a mom and dad take a road trip down the West Coast to a music festival filled with twenty-something’s? THEY SO APPRECIATE that said music festival is located on a wine farm. HELLO ROCKING THE DAISIES, HELLO! Aaaaaand, HELLO CLOOF WINE ESTATE, HELLO THERE!
Rocking The Daisies, what I can say, I’d never been. Crazy, I know, I think anybody worth their Cape Town salt has been to this now institution of a festival. RTD as it’s affectionately known sets up base on Cloof Wine Estate, situated in that little gem of a West Coast Town, Darling. Nestled off the beaten track, Cloof Wines offers more than just a patch of land suitable for pitching tents, parading festival fashion and squeaking some takkie (more like Vellie) under the hot sun. Yup, it was a scorcher of a day when Nic and I arrived but the atmosphere was buzzy and thank goodness for a glass of chilled The Very Sexy Chenin – sexy, how appropriate. If the red side of life is what really tickles your fancy, The Very Sexy Shiraz would make the wine connoisseur in you very happy. But back to all things festival for the moment…
I had already downloaded The Rocking The Daisies app a few days prior to my arrival, so I had a good idea of what was happening (as much as a 35 year old could). The crowd was young and they were there to have fun. A big (BIG) campaign of this years RTD theme was CanDo – a way of promoting a greener festival experience. A reusable can cup that festival goers would re-use for the entire weekend was heavily promoted. The cans were bright, with a minimal, yet eye-catching design, cost only R1 and clearly, the encouragement to make use of this product was working – no litter in sight #RTDGREEN. Most of the masses had a can in hand while strolling past, some even incorporated it into their ensemble – NICE. #CanDoxRTD
The musical line-up was big, with The 1975 headlining and masses of local South African talent performing to. The stage was big, the crowd was totally in the daisy vibe, the social media was on point and ……
- Tash Sultana
- Sho Madjozi
- Austin Millz
- Lady M
- Dunn Kidda
- Ady Fleming to name but a few. For a full recap of who was doing it for the daisies, click here.
What does one eat when off the beaten track? The food trader line-up made sure there was something for everyone, from good ol’ Steers, to Knead, Holy Macaroni, Wildsprout, Love Pizza, Hudsons and more. There was even sushi, I kid you not, sushi in daisyland and of course Seattle Coffee was there to provide the gentle kick of caffeine to ensure there was never a moment of “I can’t dance or yoga anymore’, none of that, thank you Seattle. And of course, one cannot forget that the lovely wines of Cloof were also on tap. There may or may not have been a can of Very Sexy Chenin paired with a large portion of chips. Because great wine carries any meal in my opinion, even a box of very slap chips with 1000 island dressing. And yes, I said can of wine but more about that a few lines down…
Now one thing that the RTD team knew was of major importance, apart from staying hydrated of course – ensuring that ones technology had ample charge. A charging booth was one of the main areas – simply lock your phone in a locker and charge away, your Instagram account would thank you for it later. As I mentioned at the beginning of this sentence, hydration. If there was one rule I carried through with me during my youth on afternoon/ evenings out – stay hydrated! How fab are these still and sparkling waters in a can? DAY H20 – I adore the simple design! *clearly very excited, I even exclamationed it*. Speaking of things in cans… Let me introduce you to The Very Sexy White, yup, that’s white wine in a can. I know, I know, I was sceptical at first too. Of course you have to completely remove whatever you think traditional wine drinking should be from your mind. I won’t lie, I was expecting a heavy taste of tin… But, but… there wasn’t, not even a hint of that flavour. Instead it was super crisp, almost zesty, refreshing and above all, convenient! The size meant I didn’t overdo it and it fit easily into my bag – Wine Win!
All in all, would I go back to RTD? Yes, yes I would. I adored the drive out to Cloof Wines which is a definite must visit (I’m so keen to go back for Sunday lunch and explore the winery a bit more), the fashion – magazine page-ready (although I clearly missed the “Sun’s Out, Bums Out” memo), the music was fierce and a hot social media game made sure everybody knew what to expect. See you next year RTD!
Happy Festival Vibes x
*Complimentary RTD tickets received from Cloof Wine Estate. All views are my own*
