WOODSTOCK 2008

Woodstock is the largest annual music festival in the country and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

It has come a long way since the inaugural one at Heidelberg with its fusion of youth, music and culture. There has been a change of production company to Surreal Sounds, but everything else remains exactly the same as the last nine years, with Simon Fourie and his companies behind him keeping it the biggest music festival in the country. These experienced campaigners will keep true to the festival's history by bringing together South Africa's finest bands from a huge variety of different genres that grips the youth of today's imagination.

Woodstock 10 will be hosted at Riversands Farm. It is approximately 6 Kms from the Witkoppen and William Nicol interchange, past Fourways, the Indaba Hotel and just after Dainfern.

It will, as it has in the past, have an assortment of skateboarders, BMX riders, FMX riders, offroad Sandmaster-type cars and paintball; and the usual variety of different stalls to keep the browsers happy. There are many new twists and treats due to be introduced to Woodstock this year, such as 'Sunset Happy Hour' which will be a break in all music, allowing everyone the chance to visit the beer gardens, meet new people in the satellite forest bar, go paintballing, or take a stroll on the beach. This year, boredom is not an option.

There is a designated safe and secure parking with 24 hour security. There are also hectares upon hectares of land to explore!

There will be the usual main stage and alternative stage, however there have been some interesting developments with regards to the third stage, affectionately dubbed "The Village Party Stage".

The fourth will be a DJ Stage, which will continue playing music into the early hours of the morning.

And an exciting fifth addition is the Hip Hop tent to Woodstock this year, set up by a few companies, including Greenhouse productions, Hearstreet Entertainment and Reherb.

The main tent will be alongside a river and dam; making swimming an appealing option to escape the heat of the day. Designated secure camping areas will be set aside with trees for covering to provide shade.

There will be food stalls, but the major focus will be on home-cooked foods, provided by the legendary catering of Riversands with a wide assortment of foods to keep the culinary adventurers entertained throughout the festival. Riversands Farm are famous for being the "Home of the Original Chicken Pie".

The group "Woodstock 10" on Facebook is growing daily, with more than 5000 members already and new members joining on a daily basis. Tickets are available from Computicket at R300 and thereafter tickets at the gate will be R350. Group tickets will be available from Surreal Sounds at a reduced rate - email info [at] surrealsounds [dot] co [dot] za with details of the number of tickets needed.

Catch Tidal Waves on Saturday 29 November at the Woodstock Music Festival – they are playing at 16h00 on Stage 3.

Visit www.woodstock.co.za for more information.