Get ready for the Ashburton Aloe Festival 2022
The Ashburton Aloe Festival 2022 meander will be held in the Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy, Ashburton East, over the weekend of July 2 and 3.
Spend a day in nature visiting five venues, with a programme of nature-based talks, walks and activities designed for visitors to enjoy the peace and tranquility of this beautiful bushveld valley, just 10km east of Pietermaritzburg.
The festival is a fundraiser for conservation and anti-poaching activities, in particular to enable the anti-poaching activities of conservancy game guard, Lucky Makuyana, aka ‘Hardlife.
Venue A: Equestre, will host a series of four conservation talks on both Saturday and Sunday morning with the themes ‘Conservation in Urban Environments’ on Saturday and ‘Sustainability, Upliftment, Conserving our Resources and Redefining Recycling’ on Sunday. There will be a dog training display with David Padbury and a dog agility display with Lindsay Dunsmore, joined by Mel and Quinton Nortje, at this venue on Saturday afternoon.
Venue B: The Ashburton Aloe Festival market at the Ashburton Training Centre will host a fresh produce farmers market on Saturday morning and a full day market with over 60 stalls, food vendors, live music, a children’s play area and pony and cart rides on Sunday. Here you can also visit the Sunset Pub & Grill and enjoy a meal and drinks on the deck.
Venue C: Galago Farm hosts the Conservancy Tea Garden and offers a daily programme featuring a range of interesting nature-based topics including, birding, grasses, indigenous trees, bee keeping, rocks and spiders. Demos include basket weaving, cob building and soap making on Saturday.
Venue D: Impala Bend is a festival favourite for hot meals including curries and breyani and drinks or sundowners at the Waterhole Lapa, with beautiful views overlooking the valley. This is the best venue for wildlife viewing and popular talks in the afternoon include wildlife rehabilitation on Saturday and ‘All about snakes’ with Nick Evans and Pieter Potgieter on Sunday afternoon.
Venue E: Rocky Wonder Aloe Nursery has a wide range of aloes and succulents on sale for festival visitors at a 10% festival discount. There is also a display aloe garden to explore with over 200 species from South Africa and further afield on display. Learn more about aloes, ‘the King of the Garden’, with a talk by Ben Botha, on Sunday morning.
Venues are open from 9am – 4pm with additional activities as advertised.
Tickets are R50 for adults, R30 for pensioners R30 and R20 for children. Children under six are free. There is no entry fee for the Ashburton Aloe Festival market.
All current Covid-19 protocols observed. For more information phone Pandora 072 6928124 or Heather 083 665 8010. Watch the Maritzburg Sun for further updates and for the full programme.