Alex Sudheim
Though celebrating only its third anniversary this year, the Southern Cross Music and Outdoor Experience has made the leap from cute and cuddly toddler to strapping youth in a burst of accelerated growth.
Originally conceived as a purely folk festival for diehard hippies with a penchant for softly strummed guitars among rolling green hills, the event this year embraces?a far wider spectrum of South African music.
Though the folky, family friendly element remains strongly in place with the likes of Tananas (including Ian Herman), Landscape Prayers, The Aquarian Trio, Shiyani Ngcobo and Butternut providing the dulcet tones, the?hard edge of South African rock is also abundantly present. Springbok Nude Girls, Saron Gas and Not My Dog provide the ear-blistering goods while more melodic rock outfits such as Sunways, Sugardrive and Caffeine Substitute?bridge the gap between the gentle and the mental.
Southern Cross this year also mobilises the dance and neo-tribal votes by laying on a dance arena helmed by drum’n’bass authority Toine Scholtz while a Rustler’s Valley contingent are in charge of the drum and fire department.
The festival takes place from March 30 to April 1 in Middelrus, in the picturesque Mooi River Valley, KwaZulu-Natal?Midlands. Tickets are available through Ticketweb, the KwaZulu-Natal Folk clubs or at the festival gate. Check out www.sxpromo.com