This weekend’s CTEMF 2014 can only be described as beautiful. I loved the car park venue originally at the V&A Waterfront but do feel it was more difficult for visitors to stumble upon. With white lights shining into the sky like a Batman-Come-Party-With-Us signal, this weekend’s event topped all the previous years.
On Friday night my partner and I went down just to check it out as we like to vote with our feet and support events even if we’re not working or like the music that much. Upon arrival we easily found safe parking right next to the festival, outside City Hall on the parade. We entered easily thanks to the efficient door staff. We took a few moments to take in the spectacle. Simple, simple, simple. The design features beautifully combined the glorious views of Cape Town and urban futurism as electronic music and lighting filled the space.
Shipping creates had been stacked upon one another with a single light inside. So simple yet so effective. There was a giant disco ball hung up which I understand really came into full force on Sunday night with the techno sets. There were lightening shaped long lights put on the rigging with zig-zagged through the night. There were golden flair like fireworks that were shot up into the sky as well as red fire flames bursting during the DJ sets. Plain but effective colours and design combined the urban setting of City Hall to the right and the natural beauty of Table Mountain to the left. The rain also came down on Friday night and sent the lasers into a next level illusion with each rain drop being illuminated, it was awesome!
If this is how much I’m going on about the decor, imagine what the party was like? This year’s show case of music was quite different. I felt the flow on Friday night was slightly more cohesive because the styles were more similar. On Saturday it went from UK Dubstep from Caspa to hard electro of Haezer (who represented us DAMN well and whose live set was awesome) into hard drum n bass of Noisia (NL). Each set completely rocked but they gave the feeling of a show case opposed to consistent dance party. I didn’t mind though as I like all 3 styles of music. I enjoyed that it was a producer centric line up this year as it’s nice to have a different line up for a Cape Town festival.
The CTEMF also had the best bars, the staff were friendly and hard-working (apart from the VIP upstairs, they were emo!). FANTASTIC sound…great, great, great sound and the lighting and VJs rocked. Extra services like the food court had enough tables, there were enough toilets which were maintained throughout the show. The CTEMF also had really tasty food! They had boiled then grilled hotdogs in baguettes, they were super tasty and I could eat one again right now! They also made a giant CTEMF logo which we could pose with which was really fun. I love when social media and the physical world merge to create something that becomes digital again, very cool.
I’d like to congratulate the CTEMF for another sterling festival. I thought there were quite a lot of foreigners who had stumbled in and I was very proud of our offering since we’re such a young and small scene. I hope Capetonians continue to support the festival and ensure that these incredibly important projects are able to be sustained over the next few decades…yes I do plan to attend them all 😉
Small mention of the lectures is also necessary because the CTEMF is not only about party time but about helping elevate those who are passionate about electronic music on an education level. On Thursday I attended the Noisia lecture in Langa. It was insightful although I would prefer a different host. Maybe each genre has a different host? Still totally cool though and a must for anyone interested in the CTEMF in the future.
