SA Fest Like Glasto But Hotter

A festival barely known beyond the South Africa borders is the fourth-best festival outside of Britain, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mirror.

Oppikoppi Festival, in the Limpopo province of South Africa near the mining town of Northam, came in just behind Belgium’s Pukkelpop, Spain’s Benicassim and Japan’s Fuji Rocks.

"Maybe the idea of dust, thorns, chaos and 72 hours of tunes is more universally appealing than we thought," festival director Carel Hoffmann told Pollstar. "But I did see that there were some big-hitting festivals in the list, so it is nice that our not very glamorous bushveld boutique festival was mentioned in those circles."

The Mirror described the 15-year-old festival, which has a reputation for placing indigenous bands and DJs alongside European talent, as being "like Glastonbury, only hotter."

"We are really happy about being included in the rankings. It’s really an honour to be the only African festival to feature on the list," said Annelie Hoffmann of OppiKoppi Productions, Carel’s sister and the event’s media chief.

The event is one of two on the Hoffmann farm. The first is a smaller event called Almost Easter (April 25-28), which features Sarah Bettens, Tidal Waves, Albert Frost and local artists.

Oppikoppi itself, which is still being booked, takes place August 7-10.

According to the Mirror, the other "Top Ten" festivals outside of the U.K. were Bestival, which qualifies because it’s on the Isle Of Wight, Iceland’s Airwaves, Belgium’s’ Rock Werchter, Ireland’s Electric Picnic, New Zealand’s Big Day Out and Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival.