An unusually high number of vehicles were on the Bedford road out of town on Saturday morning. The normally quiet road was carrying traffic to the Bedford Garden Festival and to the Riebeeck East Bazaar.
An unusually high number of vehicles were on the Bedford road out of town on Saturday morning. The normally quiet road was carrying traffic to the Bedford Garden Festival and to the Riebeeck East Bazaar.
The local farming community around Riebeeck East strongly supported the Bazaar, but there were still probably more people from Grahamstown enjoying the pleasant weather and the good food. There were several stalls offering a variety of options for the completed famished to the not-so-hungry.
JJ Moolman and Tokkie Tesnar were selling complete meals that included chops, boerewors, potatoes, onions and salads. At another stand you could buy a delicious prego roll made with authentic Portuguese rolls or if you preferred, you could choose just a simple hot dog.
For those brave enough to try some egte boerekos, you could buy a plastic container of afval potjie and pap made in traditional black pots over an open fire. The main purpose of the annual bazaar is of course to raise money, and the local farmers were generous with their time and money to make the Riebeeck Bazaar a successful event. Some farmers donated building materials and others worked hard to make a new afdak that protected the outside stalls and the dining area from the elements.
At the farm animals auction, farmers were bidding outrageous prices for individual sheep and then immediately after buying the animal, they put it on the blocks again for it to be resold to an even higher bidder. In effect they were playing, having fun and at the same time making substantial contributions to the event.
After visitors had satisfied their appetites, the doors were finally opened to the church hall where there was an array of food stalls offering fresh farms foods. People rushed into the hall with such enthusiasm that one might have expected stocks to finish quite quickly, but it seemed that most people were able to make enough purchases to remember the bazaar.
The pleasant 40km drive back to Grahamstown was easy enough, but the Bedford road needs to be completely resurfaced and widened to accommodate cyclists who regularly use this narrow road.
