/ 27 September 2007

Aardklop left in the dark

Festival-goers at the Aardklop National Arts Festival, under way in Potchefstroom, were forced to abandon the afternoon shows half way through on Thursday when the electricity went out in most of the town.

It was not immediately clear what caused the power failure but several shows were interrupted and later scrapped as performers and audiences alike waited for the power to return.

”It was only a temporary [power failure] and we are ready to continue with the evening’s performances,” Aardklop spokesperson Andries Vrey said.

In all 17 shows were scheduled for the afternoon but Vrey said it was not clear how many were affected,

At one of the shows of Afrikaans singer Jan Blohm, the audience held flash lights while he used an acoustic guitar to finish his show.

The yearly festival — featuring mostly Afrikaans theatre, dance, music, cabaret and visual arts performances — is drawing increasing numbers of people, with the latest figures ranging in the tens of thousands.

It started on Monday and is scheduled to end on Sunday. — Sapa