The MTN Bushfire Festival is a music festival held annually in May in Malkern's Valley, eSwatini. The festival runs from Friday to Sunday afternoon with the campsites opening on Thursday for the eager beavers who don't want to miss anything once the festivities begin. There are different camping options (including glamping) as well as many guest houses and hotels available nearby. This year marked the 13^th instalment of the event.

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

Oscar Wilde

This year also marked my first time at the festival and boy was it everything I'd hoped and more.

As is normally the case with these kind of trips; we started this one with a handful of friends. Excited, plans were made and budgets were drawn. However, by Feb/March it became apparent that only two of us would make it to Swaziland. Determined to experience Bushfire at least once in our lifetimes, the remaining friend and I decided to book a group camping trip which included transport from Johannesburg.

Getting there

For those of you who don't know, I live in the beautiful Mother City - or Cape Town as it is officially known - which is +/- 2 hours from Jozi by plane.

We flew out on Thursday night, slept over in Jozi then woke up early for our road trip to eSwatini with our group. The drive from Johannesburg to Manzini is about 4/5 hours including the border crossing - of course this depends on how many stops you make. The border was busy but the queues moved rather quickly. Our group consisted of 40+ people and we took roughly 30 minutes to get through.

Welcome to eSwatini

There were MTN and eSwatini Mobile stalls immeditately after we crossed the border with different SIM packages for those who wanted to stay connected with the world without paying roaming charges. We opted for the eSwatini Mobile tourist SIM card - for L100 (R100) we got 20 talk minutes for local and SA calls as well as unlimited data for 7 days.

The currency in Swaziland is the Lilangeni but they also accept SA Rands since the exchange rate is 1:1. I withdrew at an FNB atm and got some Lilangeni without incurring any additional bank charges. I'm on an all inclusive bundle for my cheque account so I suggest checking the international withdrawal policy with your bank before you leave.

First stop: The Gables Shopping Centre, Manzini where we stocked up on snacks and drinks. Note that food and drinks (including alcohol) are allowed in the campsites but not in the festival area - they are very strict about this, even water is a no-no.

Up next: Malkern's Valley. Let the festivities begin!

The campsite

Since we were travelling on a group trip, our tents were already pitched when we arrived. We opted for the single booking which is comprised of a 2 man tent with a blow up matress. We brought our own blankets and/or sleeping bags. We also brought snacks and a cooler box that we stocked up with drinks and water at our first stop mentioned earlier in this post. I can't stress enough how important it is to hydrate during these events to avoid collasping from dehydration (which sadly happened to one of our group travel mates).

We also brought combination locks for the tents although we really didn't need them cause the campsites are quite safe and security is visible 24 hours a day.

The campsites have showers, toilets and running water (yay!) - we actually found a pit toilet while exploring the forest next to our camp but for obvious reasons I don't recommend using this lol. Hot water is powered by a bushfire (see what I did there? ☺) that is lit in the morning and evening meaning that showers are cold during the day. I advise waking up early to avoid the long queues, shower then go back to sleep until you're ready to face the day. Alternatively, if you plan on going so hard that waking up early is not even an option, you can wait until an act you don't mind missing comes on in the evening and shower then. Whichever option you go for just please make sure to shower at some point!

The festival

The festival itself has a little bit of everything. In addition to the main stage, there are three more stages with each having different acts throughout the day. The bigger, better known bands perform on the main stage attracting the majority of the festival goers. One of the other stages has a house/trance theme for the party goers. The other is a smaller, more intimate venue normally with a DJ and some sculptures on display while the last is an amphitheater for a more drama/artsy kind of vibe (think stand up comedy with Rob van Vuuren).

There's also a market place with a huge variety of services and things for sale. These range from bags and clothing to a tattoo parlor and a hairdresser.

The people, food and overall vibes

The people: one thing all Bushfire peeps have in common is openness and friendliness. Everyone is willing to help a stranger out without expecting anything in return. I found myself dancing with strangers more than I would in my own city. That said, I actually met a lot more people from SA than I expected to and made many new friends while at it.

The food: similarly the food caters for the diverse crowd that the festival attracts. In addition to the massive beer garden sponsored by Sibebe - the eSwatini local beer - there are about 3/4 more bars servicing the festival.