In a bummer of an announcement; South Africa’s dusty and the fun-filled festival will not be taking place this year. 2019 also happens to be the year Oppikoppi turns 25 and to our dismay, the fest will not be throwing a raucously ratchet quarter of a century bash; well not this year.
The festival will be taking a break due to the high levels of crime in last years’ edition. In a statement, the fest organizers said the costs of making the event a safer and more enjoyable experience proved too costly for this year’s edition.
“For us to present the 2019 event with the increased security measures that are required to curb this crime to present a safe and enjoyable festival, the production costs also increase drastically.”
– CEO Matchbox Live: Theresho Selesho
Oppikoppi organizers will be taking the gap year to redesign the festival without affecting ticket prices.
“We realise that a festival like OppiKoppi has a significant role to play in the South African music scene… we are 100% up for it BUT we want to do it right”, concluded the message.
Hosted in Northam just outside Limpopo, Oppikoppi has run for a solid 24 years.
Sadly, a bulk of last year’s festival-goers experienced an unseemly level of theft of cellphones, cooler boxes camping chairs and even tents. Complaints flooded the social media timelines much like those of the Global Citizen concert aftermath.
We are bummed AF about missing Oppikoppi this year but appreciate the big boy decision organizers have made. Festival-goers’ safety should come first, always!
We will definitely be counting down till 2020.
In dust, we trust.
