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A NEW BEGINNING festival

Tuesday, January 31st, 2006

December 23rd
I can’t believe the festival is over….. After a month of intense work for me and 3yrs of work for Mark, the first of 7 festivals is over.
On the whole it was a success. We had over 110people, everyone who came loved it and had a blast, no fights or serious security issues (except for staff tents being robbed – more on that later). But it wasn’t enough to make money for the non-profit organisation “Aids to Eden”. Perhaps in the years to come the festival will grow in name and size. By 2010 we should hopefully be able to challenge the world record for drumming circles.
I am glad I got to experience and help with it.

Now back tothe robbery. On the first night of the festival at about midnight I went back to my tent utterly exhausted. When I got there I noticed it was open, then I noticed everything was thrown around. I ran back to the festival grounds and the whole staff came to check their tents. Every tent had been hit in some way. Simone (Bomvu manager) had her camera stolen, Jenna (Bomvu chef) was lucky, Mark (Bomvu host and festival director) had a special necklace, shorts and t-shirts stolen – he didn’t have that many to begin with…, Boaz (Bomvu massage and yoga therapist) was hit the hardest, he had his camera, bag, wallet and CDs stolen. He is also a DJ so the CDs were probably the worst. I had everything in my tent pulled out, a bottle of whiskey stolen and my purse stabbed. The funny thing was that they stabbed my purse and went straight through 2 R10 notes, but never found them. On the whole kind of a hectic night.
Unfortunately when things like this happen there is not much the police can do. Everything just sort of evaporates into the hills. Thats when you smile and nod and say “well at least no one was hurt and I can replce everything that was stolen in some way or another….”

Part of the furniture

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

November 19th
Yup…. You guessed it, still at Bomvu
Have become part of the furniture, even joined the “tented” community (borrowed a tent since it is a lot cheaper than the dorms). A few days ago I hiked to Mdumbi and the African Pot hostel. Mdumbi beach is rated one of the best beaches in South Africa. The walk is a stunning 15km odd hike along the cliffs with many up and downs. I think I slept for 2 days when I finally made it, but it was definitely worth the trip. Tomorrow will leave for a 2 week marketing trip for a festival that is happening at the end of December. Have to travel to Cape Town and back to Durban and return to Coffee Bay, stopping at as many hostels as I can to let people know what is happening.

The festival is to raise awareness for AIDs and HIV in the Coffee Bay area and get a non profit organisation, Aids to Eden, off the ground.
Mark Russell the organiser of, A NEW BEGINNING, is a DJ from Cape Town and has been planning this event for over 3yrs. The festival will be held at Bomvu and include 2 DJ’s from the UK, as well as local DJs and some local bands. Already there are about 10 people here from countries like Israel, Germany, Austria and the UK that have heard about it and come to join.

To learn more have a look at: www.anewbeginning.co.za
This is the first of hopefully 7 festivals that will also challenge the world record for largest drum circle. It is planned to have 5000 drummers playing by 2010!!!