By Marley
It’s all about love, peace and paws – Woofstock 2021 took place on Saturday 18 September 2021 at The Pub in Nelspruit. Dressed up in tie-dye and flowers in our hair, Woofstock took us all by surprise. Organized by one of the Mrs Mpumalanga finalists, Monique O’Reilly it was definitely one for the dogs (and cats).
(Photo by: Small Town Music)
It is rare in Covid times to find an all day event and Woofstock was the perfect fit for the sunny Saturday. With Jacaranda FM DJ, Martin Bester, as MC the day kicked off with some good music from local artist, Mel. Next came some lucky draw prize handouts, auction from camera straps (provided by Small Town Music) to a Banjo, to a door (yes a door), paint and many more – actually too much to mention. The front of the stage was packed with dog and cat food donated by good hearted humans. Next on stage was a new band Hopeless Heroes – consisting of well known Lowveld music faces – it is a band that got the crowd going for more followed by The Acoustics.
(Photo by: Small Town Music)
One of the highlights for me was the air guitar competition. One of the well known locals of The Pub – Neil – is always playing some good air guitar. However, he had a good competition and the prize? A kilogram of droë wors made by The Pub. I’ve seen people do a lot of things for one of South Africa’s favourite snacks but nothing came close to the air guitar competition. On the beat of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC it was feet in the air, fingers sliding over the imaginative thread and the face pulling – I laughed my stomach sore.
(Photo by: Small Town Music)
Another highlight was the raffle for the Marshall Music sponsored prize – a Les Paul Gibson guitar, a beauty of note. Karin Erasmus of Pro-Life did the draw on stage with Martin and the winner was…LA Cobra. In return, they wanted to auction the guitar off but included Martin in the prize.
Of course, Woofstock wasn’t just for the humans, it was to raise funds and food for the fur babies at Pro-Life Pet Rescue. Pro-Life is a no kill shelter for dogs and cats of all ages and sizes. They do outreach work in the communities by providing sterilization days and general vet care. Also, there are kittens and puppies that come in that is orphaned and some special foster parents take care of them. Every time we go there and getting multiple licks from the dogs waiting on forever homes and love from the adult cats, it’s an instant anti-depression pill. Monique put this event together as her charity choice for the Mrs Mpumalanga competition. I’m sure a lot of tail wags was received when the animals got their new toys and blankets.
Dare To Believe was next and as always they are the crowd favourites. Johannesburg band, LA Cobra was also on the lineup and a special one song appearance by Martin Bester with Dare To Believe was also a sing-a-long with the crowd. We sneaked off to attend Prime Circle in White River but we heard that Woofstock was a barking mad party into the early evening.
All in all Woofstock 2021 was truly a fun filled Saturday event. I was amazed at how open people’s hearts and wallets were to the items auctioned off. In the end, the animals benefited from this event and the humans got a chance to let their masks down and have fun.
Make love, not war.
