The rural Western Cape town of Porterville came alive on 23 and 24 September with the second iteration of the Purple Mountain Heritage Day Festival (PMHF), a free, 36-hour celebration of heritage through art, poetry, storytelling, traditional food, music, photography and astronomy. Organised by the Purple Mountain Arts Residency (PMAR) – cofounded by Carl Collison and his husband, Aldo Brincat – the festival once again set out to “open hearts, minds and doors to the humanity in each of us”. Brincat said: “South Africa still feels the legacies of colonialism and apartheid. While individuals may feel powerless to change these realities in any significant way, we can choose to explore and celebrate the human in each other with respect and empathy.”
This year marked two important milestones for the festival. For the first time, the festival received support from the Western Cape government and Goethe-Institut Nigeria’s pan-African “Residency Re-Sourced” programme. This funding made it possible for PMAR – which is a registered nonprofit company – to employ four young local interns, cover administrative costs, pay honorariums to all participating artists, and channel business to Porterville service providers and accommodation hosts.
The second milestone was the decisive shift in programming. Unlike last year, which featured mostly Cape Town-based and Johannesburg-based artists, this year’s line-up drew almost entirely from Porterville’s own creative community.
Audiences were treated to an array of unforgettable performances and events. Emerging Porterville poets performed alongside visiting poet Jadrick Pedro, who also launched his new book, Lostorring.
Local musicians Allen and Neheusha Daniels moved crowds with songs rooted in their heritage, while mother-and-daughter duo Aletta and Nicole Hendricks combined food and storytelling in a presentation that had audiences laughing and crying in equal measure.
Dr Catherine Cress, an internationally respected astronomer, guided stargazing sessions that left children and adults in awe, while photographer Beauty Buthelezi’s haunting and evocative portraits of Papua New Guinea’s indigenous people sparked reflections on identity and belonging.
Under the theme “Here I stand”, the festival’s youth-centred photography competition culminated in a spirited showcase at the Bettie Julius Library in Monte Bertha. A short film by artists ’Matlali Matabane and Gina van der Ploeg, titled “The wind has waited”, premiered at the festival.
Entry to all events was free. With close on 250 bookings, waiting lists for popular events and an estimated R85 000 to R100 000 injected into the local economy, this year’s Purple Mountain Heritage Day Festival reaffirmed itself as a rare and vital space where creativity, culture and community converge.