The hamlet of Pniel is set to host the annual Adam Small Festival again this year after the 2021 event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was according to event organiser, Janine Myburgh.
The annual event focuses on Afrikaans arts and literature.
Pniel is considered to be a small rural town that falls under the Stellenbosch municipality. Many of these smaller settlements struggle to draw in tourists and create local industry. Events such the Adam Small Festival provide opportunities for local communities like Pniel to gain more recognition, this is according to Lavinia Goshai. PHOTO: Joel Ontong.
“The event takes place on 26 February, but only for one day due to Covid,” according to the secretary of Pniel Museum, Samantha Meyer. Previous iterations of the event took place over the course of three days, where the Pniel Museum and Pniel Congregational Church were used as venues for the festival, according to previous programs of the festival uploaded to Litnet.co.za. This year, the event will be held at the Pniel tea garden, according to the current program provided by Janine Myburgh.
The venue for the Adam Small Festival is the Pniel Tea Garden, which is part of the Pniel Museum. The Pniel Museum acts as a means of preserving the local history of the town, this is according to its Facebook profile PHOTO: Joel Ontong.
The Adam Small Festival forms part of a larger effort within Pniel to host more cultural events, such as literature workshops and art showcases, to connect local, younger audiences with national arts and literature movements. This is according to the former chairperson of the Pniel Heritage and Cultural Trust, Matthew Cyster, who called the festival “something wonderful that can grow”.
Pniel’s tourism traffic is currently reliant on the surrounding wine farms, while smaller local businesses struggle to produce substantial profits. The festival organisers hope that the event will abate the current tourist dry spell, according to Lavinia Goshai, secretary at Dwarsrivier Valley Tourism.
“Due to the pandemic, tourism is low”, Goshai stated. “The Adam Small Festival usually attracts audiences, especially from the Afrikaans crowd”.
Pniel is considered to be a small rural town that falls under the Stellenbosch municipality. Many of these smaller settlements struggle to draw in tourists and create local industry. Events such the Adam Small Festival provide opportunities for local communities like Pniel to gain more recognition, according to Lavinia Goshai. PHOTO: Joel Ontong.
The first iteration of the festival was in 2017 and the program was coordinated by Darryl Earl David. The festival was meant to celebrate the legacy of Adam Small, according to David in a 2016 interview with Litnet. The festival will feature various authors as guest speakers, including Diana Ferrus, Kyle Jantjies and Nancy Richard. The festival will also feature musical performances by Natalia da Rocha and The Applauz Band, according to Myburgh.