I’ve been scouring the net for some inspiration over the last few weeks, and came across this awesome article By Delphi Carstens. It’s so inspiring I thought I’d share it with the rest of you, to wet your appetite for the upcoming season and appreciate our little gem we have hidden away in this remote corner of the globe…
Africa?s Psychedelic Safari-land
By Delphi Carstens
If the world?s trance-hotspots had to be graded in terms of music, scenery, and dynamism then Cape Town would get top marks. Long and glorious summers, spectacular mountain ranges, amazing vistas, and a host of inspired local talent make Cape Town one of the world?s best-preserved trance secrets.
One glimpse of the city?s magnificent Table Mountain is enough to convince even the most skeptical that this is one of the world?s most powerful places. Those searching for the perfect outdoor trance party need look no further. Featuring the strongest accumulation of Ley Lines in the Southern-Hemisphere, Cape Town is an absolute seventh heaven for Trancers on a spiritual tip. What?s more, under the guidance of fabulously talented and tuned-in local producers, record labels, artists and organizers the local scene has positively flourished over the last few years. Matching any international standard, the local scene produces some of the world?s finest, and most original music. What?s more, the Cape Town scene offers punters a chance to experience outdoor parties that are second to none in terms of energy, diversity and setting.
Between late September and the beginning of May (the duration of the balmy local summer), weekends are action-packed with incredible trance gatherings. Professional organizers like Vortex and Alien Safari, record labels like Nano, Timecode, and AfroGalatic, as well as intimate party organizers like the Groovy Troopers, FreeRange, and Crystal Vision are all active during this period. Each of these tireless organizers contributes a unique spirit and collectively they?ve built the local scene into a haven for trancers and psychedelic travelers.
Cape Town-based recording artists like Rinkadink, Shift, Damage, Protoculture (and a whole lot more) have also done their bit for the local scene, gracing it with innovative beats and rhythms that are on par with the best that the international scene has to offer. Speaking of which, Cape Town also happens to be the regular haunt of a host of global trance stalwarts such as Etnica, Tristan, Talamasca, Alien Project, GMS, Skazi, and a host of others who come year after year to experience the delights of Africa?s southernmost tip.
Covering trance?s entire spectrum of styles and adding a distinctive local flavour, the scene here is truly matchless. Each of Cape Town?s many seasonal outdoor gatherings offers punters a chance to experience a sense of intimacy and dynamism that?s seldom to be found anywhere else in the world (where scenes are often jaded and parties are often oversized, overcrowded and impersonal). Rarely playing host to more than 3000 people, Cape Town?s trance parties stand out because they are at once sweeping and powerful, whilst retaining the quintessential watermark of true psychedelicia – a sense of magic, togetherness and playfulness.
Set in a radius around Cape Town, local outdoor revels really make the best of the magnificent and unspoilt surrounds. Always impressing foreigners (who never ceased to be amazed by the impressive settings and easygoing local punters), venues are forever varied. Cape Town?s psychedelic adventurers may find themselves dancing in a forest glade with a pumping sound-system one week, and tranced-out on a mountain pass with astounding views the very next. Fairy-tale gorges, pristine rivers, fruit orchards, hilltops and un-spoilt beaches are favored settings and organizers are frequently pulling out the stops and coming up with amazing surprises to tantalize punters, who often dress up to suit the occasion. Dance-floors are spacious and often perfect ? never muddy and seldom uncomfortable. Parties are always safe, camping is encouraged, and amenities like loos, food, beverage, and clothing stalls, free water, etc, are readily available. Each party is an outdoor adventure ? with plenty of musical fun.
With such an abundance of magical natural settings, Cape Town?s party nights are always mysterious and enchanted, carrying the energetic and enthusiastic dancers (who are renowned for spending almost the entire duration of a party on the dancefloor) over into beautiful sun-kissed mornings and hazy afternoons of thumping bliss. When the sun gets too hot, dance floors frequently get shaded and sprinklers come out to woo sweltering dancers into dancing a few more hours.
Here, at the tip of Darkest Africa, the true spirit of tribalism has truly goaded the local trance scene into pushing out some of the most amazing gatherings ? the likes of which haven?t been seen on this planet since the Paleolithic.
Travellers shouldn?t be intimidated by Cape Town?s far-flung party settings – they are always accessible. Locals and backpackers-lodges are always willing to help out any traveler that needs a lift to a party and rides back to the Mother City are easy to come by once the music has wound-down.
The trance tribe that?s rapidly burgeoning under the shadow of Table Mountain is all-inclusive and is truly welcoming to all travelers and psychedelic journeyers.
Even during the cold season (which is actually quite mild and brief) weekends are filled with wonderfully spicy warehouse and club events, offering party-goers a wide variety of choices and styles. For the adventurous there are year round activities such as hikes, diving, mountaineering, and chances to go on a safari to other parts of South Africa. Those seeking to go further a-field in search of other African trance-permutations should bear in mind that even Johannesburg (with its Lunatech parties) as well as the Wilderness/Knysna area feature regular trance happenings.
If you?re still not convinced, then bear in mind that Cape Town is one of the world?s most inexpensive (and beautiful) travel destinations. When you arrive, all you need to do is grab a copy of local electronica magazine, BPM, and start planning your weekends out. Get ready to have the time of your life ? Cape Town is without doubt the definitive psychedelic safari capital of the world.
