Stoep Talk: Proudly Prince Albert

- Queen Vic -

Due to the countless stops on the N1 because of repairs being done, I recently found myself driving along from Prince Albert Road to Prince Albert in the dark. What a pleasure! Instead of having to concentrate on how I was going to pass the next truck, I could take in my surroundings. The mountains were highlighted by the full moon. What a backdrop to the drama I happened to be listening to on my car radio. This is certainly something I could never do or experience in a city.

The drama brought me back to thinking about the Grahamstown Festival earlier in July. What a variety of shows and extraordinary talent. How I wished I could whisk every young Prince Alberter off to the Festival and expose them to the range of abilities, the exuberance of performers, both young and old and the joy that is to be had in hard work and dedication.

An observation I made was that many of the shows, crafts and activities at the Festival were proudly Grahamstown - in particular, the food stalls. Biting into the most wonderful Greek pastries, I enquired of the sellers, “Do you have a shop here?” “Oh no,” they replied, “We only do this once a year for the Festival – these are our grandmother’s recipes.” So it was with the plethora of food stalls. Quality coffee and decadent cakes awaited us at the entrance to many of the shows – all provided by the locals. And so I thought, surely we could do this too, and be really “Proudly Prince Albert” at our next Festival.