Oppikoppi

Oppikoppi
Oppikoppi from the top
Genre	Various – rock, jazz, house, acoustic, world music, comedy, metal, indy, soul, punk, emo, many more
Dates	2nd weekend of August
Location(s)	Northam, South Africa
Years active	Since 1994
Website
oppikoppi.co.za

Oppikoppi is a music festival held in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, near the mining town of Northam. The festival started off focusing mostly on rock music, but gradually added more genres and now plays host to a complete mixed bag of genres. Anything from jazz, world music, house music, acoustic, comedy and all else in between can be heard on one of the multiple stages. Each year on the second weekend of August thousands of people flock to the farm to camp out in the bush and enjoy the music for several days. The festival features mostly South African bands, although international acts are included in the line-up, especially now that Oppikoppi is becoming more successful.

"Oppikoppi" is a colloquial abbreviation of the Afrikaans phrase "op die koppie", which literally means "on the hill". The camping area is at the foot of a hill, on top of which is a bar and a stage that features all the hip hop and dance acts, while the main stages feature all of the big acts and most of the rock bands. Oppikoppi has several stages where many simultaneous performances take place.

The festival started in 1994, with 27 local talents performing to a small crowd of enthusiasts. 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. It attracts thousands of attendees annually.

According to the organizers they have "rolled bakkies, burnt tents, driven over knees, slept in jails, slept outside jails and turned over several stones to make gigs and festivals work."

In 2008, the Daily Mirror ranked Oppikoppi as the 4th best music festival in the world.

The festival has grown yearly, with 16 000 attendees and around 100 acts for both 2010 and 2011 and an estimated 20 000 attendees and 130 acts for 2012.

The festival hosts a wide array of acts, with artists being booked from genres including, but not limited to: rock, hip hop, hardcore, punk, ska, folk, blues, drum ‘n bass, big beats, funk, kwaito, jazz, traditional, world music, metal, indy and other genres.