What makes it so different from any other music festival - besides the fact that the show is unplugged - is that it's held in the most beautiful setting at Kam'Bati River Resort on the banks of the Breede River just outside of Swellendam. The camping facilities at Kam'Bati are top quality and everything you need is provided - yes, even a family bathroom for those precious peeps who feel that an outing to the bathroom is something they need to do "together as a family".
We had quite a memorable experience as first-timers at RAKA. The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. People were chilling out on the lawn in front of the stage, playing table tennis and pool, floating down the river with tubes whilst dodging golf balls that were being hit into the river by all the wanna-be Happy Gilmores. Others were socialising around their campfires or at the bar area and all the while beautiful acoustic music could be heard in the background.
As the music is the heartbeat of RAKA, artists are carefully selected each year to make the festival what it is. Back by popular demand at this year's festival was guitar and loop station maestro Louwtjie Rothman (of SA's Got Talent fame). Rothman's music is influenced by John Mayer, Danny Elfman and a few others and I am sure anyone who saw his performance would agree that they felt some August Rush in the air - no doubt about it.
Ramblin' Bones (with lead singer Jay Bones of Fuzigish) was definitely one of the highlights of the evening with its alternative folk rock/punk tunes and very entertaining stage personality. They had the crowd on their feet singing along and we even won ourselves some prizes for our "fancy dancing" - as bassist Eric Wright likes to call it.
Radiohead/Muse-infused 3rd World Spectator took the stage next and instantly created a somewhat emotional and dramatic scene. They describe their lyrical themes as an imitation of the diverse hybrid of styles they incorporate into their music such as electronica, hard and indie rock, opera and pop.
The Saturday started off easy with duo Sanet Stegman and Willemien Heyns of Aanklank followed by extremely talented alternative/folk singer-songwriter Shotgun Tori (who also performs with Ramblin' Bones). A few other artists worth mentioning was The Brothers Goodkat from Stellenbosch, Jason Tamba all the way from the DRC, Foto Na Dans and Hugo Brand, former drummer of ef-el, who blew the audience away with a voice that absolutely gives goosebumps - if I could marry this man's voice I think I would be the happiest girl alive!
If you love good acoustic music and awesome laid back people then come and join us next year and RAKA rustig man!
