The mutual friend I was staying with told me about this festival, Cape Town Electronic Music Festival 2017 aka CTEMF, that would be happening the first weekend I was there. She ultimately needed someone to go with also. This sounded like an awesome time and a perfect way to start my South Africa trip. Plus they had a deal for people flying in that made the festival super cheap to attend. I bought my ticket with the quickness.
Cape Town Electronic Music Festival Info
CTEMF was hosting it’s 6th annual event in the same location as it has been, Cape Town City Hall. I loved the idea of throwing a three-day music festival in the City Hall which turned out to be a very nice venue. The music was a nice mix of electronic music throughout the world. Some of the acts playing were Ryan Hemsworth, Cold Cut, AME, Mateo!, and Yeti.
Festival Expierence
The Crowd
The crowd, for the most part, seemed to be a relatively older crowd. I didn’t see too many young people or a bunch of debauchery. Everyone there seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves and were very friendly. I didn’t notice anyone who couldn’t handle themselves either. No fights, no one being carried out, no domestic arguments, or creeps. The crowd was pretty solid.
The Venue
The venue for Cape Town Electronic Music Festival 2017 was stunning and split into two floors. Downstairs they had the main stage and outside garden area that had a stage called the Terrace. Upstairs they had two more stages. One was pretty enclosed and super hot labeled the Club, while the other one was always packed with pretty much everyone smoking in there since it had a balcony known as the Mezzanine. Going upstairs after the outside stage was shut down was difficult. The one room was way too hot and the other room you couldn’t move. The main stage, however, was never too crowded. The bar lines were a bit hectic though. I’m glad I don’t drink much because I wouldn’t have wanted to deal with the long, unorganized mess that was the bar. There was also a lack of food which really sucked. The last day they did a cookout outside but that was it. I remember craving some food one night but having to wait for the festival to end.
The sound and production were on point. The sound was good at every stage and the visual production as well. They really enjoy lasers at this festival. Entrance into the festival was pretty seamless the first day and re-entry the following days was even easier. They use a digital payment system where you load money onto they payment card they are using. For them, it was Howler.
Favorite Acts of Cape Town Electronic Music Festival 2017
I honestly went into CTEMF with knowing a few artists on the bill. I was really excited to check out some local South African music though. These were my favorite acts at Cape Town Electronic Music Festival:
- Killer Robot
- Ryan Hemsworth
- Yeti
- Airwalker
- Leighton Moody
Special thanks to Mik Motala Photography for letting me use his pictures.
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