OppiKoppi is the biggest multiple-day music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam.
According to the concert's official site, the first ever band weekend at the OppiKoppi farm took place in May 1994 with Valiant Swart, Koos Kombuis and few hundred people in the small bar.
It has since grown substantially, with the addition of many new stages and thousands of people turning up each year.
The festival is regarded by some as the primary influence in jump-starting the South African rock music movement in the late 90's. Thousands of people still flock to the farm to camp out in the bush and enjoy simultaneous performances on 7 stages (and a few roving pieces of craziness).
The 18th Oppikoppi back in 2012. Pic: Matthews Baloyi
It further adds: "Although the festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, more genres were soon added and now plays host to roughly 160 sets of international and South African music and entertainment acts of all genres including rock, hip hop, hardcore, punk, ska, folk, blues, drum ‘n bass, big beats, kwaito, jazz, funk, traditional, world music, comedy, metal, indie, house and other genres.
This year, the lineup has blown up to be one of the most diverse concert stages that the country has seen.
See: Five female artists to look out for at Oppikoppi this weekend:
Sho Madjozi: Tsonga rap queen and poet.
Melo B Jones: Local contemporary soul singer.
Red Robyn: Durban based singer-songwriter
El Corazon (Future Nostalgia): DJ
Sió: King is a storyteller, who uses music, poetry, theatre, design and interpretation to tell her stories.
OppiKoppi has always been at the forefront of what is happening in the socio-economic and political contexts in South Africa, doing it’s part to change the country and bringing people together in a spontaneous/natural way.
* Oppikoppi takes place at Northam in Limpopo, from August 9 to 11.
Images: Oppikoppi