With little more than nine days before the VOC Festival 2015 kicks off, festival coordinators have promised a weekend full of excitement that will cater to Capetonians young and old. After a brief hiatus in 2014, the festival has returned this year with the promise of being the biggest yet.

Organisers have lined up an extensive array of events and entertainment throughout the course of the weekend. As has been the norm in years gone by, the festival will open with a thikr on Thursday evening, before festivities officially kick off the following night. Friday will include the opening ceremony, the ever-popular ulema soccer match, a fireworks display, and qaseeda renditions amongst others.

Sport will take centre stage on the following morning, with rugby, touch rugby and athletics amongst the codes on show. Apart from the sport, Saturday evening will include several performances on the main stage and in the tea garden.

A core focus as always will be to ensure festival-goers of all ages are catered for. For the more elderly members of the community, the tea garden will likely be a permanent fixture of entertainment, whilst children will be able to enjoy the fun rides that will be available.

The Sunday will be coinciding with Mother’s Day, and in a special treat the VOC staff will be coordinating a special Mother’s Day breakfast in the tea garden. Thereafter, Yusuf Fisher will again host the ever popular Golden Hour show live.

“What we’ve prepared this year is that the Friday, Saturday and Sunday will not be the same. We have lined up different things for each day,” explained stall sales co-ordinator Hajiera Isaacs, further urging community members to experience all aspects of the festival through the weekend.

Those who tire from the endless array of entertainment will be able to circumnavigate the exterior of the stadium, where a host of food and non-foods stalls will be set up.

Addressing the current state of stall sales, Isaacs said the majority of stalls were now sold out, with but a few being reserved for those who had requested as such. She admitted however, that they would consider selling those to latecomers still looking to operate at the festival.

“When we do bookings we tell people they can a deposit. So all of those people that still need to pay the balance it can be made up by Monday inshallah,” she said.

In regards to the stalls themselves, organisers have taken into consideration the concerns of stall holders and festival attendees for the 2013 event, and have made the appropriate adjustments. This includes a layout change, including an increase in the size of the tea garden and stall areas.

Stallholders are requested to attend a meeting on Monday May 3rd at 8pm, at the stadium itself. Here they will be issued with their respective ‘packages’, informed of the do’s and don’ts’, and notified of all other logistics.

The VOC Festival will take place at the Vygieskraal Stadium from the 7th to the 10th May 2015. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)