Thoughts on our Spring Festival. (Extract article from the volume 2005/3 Newsletter)

The Spring Festival follows a seemingly traditional format which runs something like this;
1. public exposure using the Kite Festival as its stage.
2. cultural evenings in mid week for interested parties
3. an Heritage Day contribution.

I keep asking myself this question. Why do we have such a disjointed affair strung out over a period of a week?

Kite Festival

These two large kites which were a special feature at this years event.

2005 was my first Kite and Zandvlei Spring Festival experience and what a joyful revelation it was. It gave me great pleasure to see the thousands of people flocking through the security gates with pets accompanying many, all under a colourful mantel of vibrant kites of all types and sizes.
It was indeed a win - win set up with Cape Mental Health making money while giving the paying public a secure space to make, fly and watch kites. To amble amoung a myriad of food, drink, bric a brac, information and kite selling stalls and to have the children well catered for by the inflatable castles, slides and the rest. If the kids are happy, the parents are contented.

It also provided an opportunity for, the Scouting fraternity, ofther organisations and us, the Zandvlei Trust to reveal ourselves to the unaware public.

By far, the most important ingredient on the days, was wind. Without wind, kites do not fly and without it windbourne pollination cannot take place. Windbourne seed distribution is also a failure when there is no wind. Perhaps it is this common denominator that attracts the first stage of Zandvlei Trusts Spring Festival to the Kite festival?

Cultural events

Dr Allan Boyd                                         Doug Harebottle

Prof Timm Hoffman with Erika and Michael                              Nathan Meyers

Then there followed two mid week cultural evenings with illustrated talks presented by the top dogs in their various fields. Always enjoyable to me, but what disturbed me most was the abysmal turn out. I ask myself another question are our Zandvlei Trust members, who were only conspicuous in their apathetic abstinence, only giving us lip service? Is this the ancient rule of thumb, stating a fact that 10% of a total membership will actually support functions!!
We must clearly broaden our membership base or concentrate our Spring Festival to a short sharp slot.

Heritage Day

Norman Skillen, Dave Ledbetter and Ronan Skillen playing on Heritage day at the Environmental Centre at Zandvlei Nature Reserve.

Our Heritage Day function on Saturday morning, was an outstanding event. We were entertained in the Zandvlei Nature Reserve Education Centre by three musicians - an acoustic guitarist, a percussianist with a didgeridoo and a narrator / poem reader. They had the faithful, few attendees, spelbound for an absorbing 60 minutes.
This venue certainly fitted our concluding pagant.

The muse reflects

Our revels are now ended, these our actors
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into the air, into thin air (wind)
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision (kites)
The cloud capp'd towers (Muizenberg Peak / Steenberg) and gorgous palaces
The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 
Yea all which it inherit, small dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pagent faded,
Leave not a rack behind, we are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with sleep.
Wake up the Zandvlei members and
Come and be counted
Let not the vlei be troubled by mans polluting habits
Nor let the banks be destoyed 
By the screeching of brakes and thudding of cars
On a new Toll Road.

(Apologies to Shakespeare)

Ed Cutten