The Team (Part 1) - Interviews in the Office

MTN Bushfire is on its 6th year now and it would'nt have been possible without our lovely team....Below is a little about them ....

Jiggs Thorne - Festival director

1. What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
   Cesaria Evora-Carnaval sao Vicente


2. Favorite artist of all time.
   Bob Dylan


3. Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
   Jikanelanga, because of their amazing fusion sound.



4. How long have you been working at bushfire?
    For as long as I can remember


5. Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.
   Passion ignites flames

Jemima Yong- Festival coordinator

1. What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
    Gold Panda- You

2. Favorite artist of all time.
   I don’t have one, but right now Bon Iver.



3. Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
   Saul Williams and Tonik and The Barn performers



4. How long have you been working at bushfire?
   3 months


5. Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.

    Hectic and Hilarious

Sholto Thorne-Production Director

 

1.What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
  James Blake- Limit your love


2.Favorite artist of all time.
  Bob Marley


3.Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
Jeremy Loops


4. How long have you been working at bushfire?
From inception


5. Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.
 Infinite possibilities

Rob Tapster- Trading Manager 

1.What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
 Reinxeed- the fall of man

2.Favorite artist of all time.
Bad religion


3.Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
Jeremy Loops


4.How long have you been working at bushfire?
18 months


5.Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.

Khetsiwe Dlamini-Events manager

1. What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
Rob's terrorist ring tone ahahaha joking....
old Jams favourites including  Lil  Wayne, Mafikizolo,
Rihanna and Luther Vandrose

2.Favorite artist of all time.
Luther Vandrose and Mariah Carey , *Definietly*

3.Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
Mi casa
                                                    
4.How long have you been working with BUSHFIRE?
1 year

5.Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.
Fire exciting MADNESS

Zamafuzo Sukati-Administrator

1. What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
Eminem- space Bound
                        
2.Favorite artist of all time.
Dr Dre, Eminem, Rihanna and Whitney Houston*may her soul rest in peace*  

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
Mi casa
4.How long have you been working at bushfire?
2 weeks
5.Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.
Fun creative journey

Themba Vilakati- Driver

1.What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
Benjamin Dube- ngiyakutsanda

2.Favorite artist of all time.
Benjamin Dube

3.Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
Lira

4.How long have you been working at bushfire?
6 years

5.Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.
Stressful busy fun

Khanyi Mabuza-Adminitrative manager

1. What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
      S'fiso Ncwane- Kulungile


2. Favorite artist of all time.
   Ringo


3. Who are you looking forward to seeing at Bushfire this year?
      Lira

4. How long have you been working at bushfire?
     6 years

5. Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words.
........................no COMMENT

Buggs-Builder

1. What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
Parlotones-stars fall down
2. Favorite artist of all Time?
 Freshly ground
3. Who are you looking forward to seeing at bushfire?
Mango Groove

4. How long have you been working with Bushfire?
3 years

5. Describe the process of creating bushfire in 3 words?
Hectic Work as usual

Mbongeni Dlamini-Barn Curator
 

1.What you listening to on your iPod at the minute?
  Modeselektor- German Clap

2.Favorite artist of all Time?
Big L, Triple Quest, ViKtor Vaughn


3.Who are you looking forward to seeing at bushfire?
Saul William and Joey Rasdien

4.How long have you been working with Bushfire?
I worked at the first one and this time around its 2 weeks

5. Describe the process of creating Bushfire in 3 words….
Complex, arduous, rewarding

Boom padoom poom, Boom padoom poom

Let me start off by saying that I do not consider myself a writer by profession. I'm much more used to writing for myself than anyone else, it's a Yong family thing - journalling. So forgive me if this isn't quite as sophisticated as the nieghbouring blog.

I do however believe that documentation and experimenting with ways of being transparent to your audiences is (are?) important. I think it is healthy to offer an access point to the process behind an event that cups in its warm hands as much power, relevance and communal celebration as this festival does. It perhaps give people something to invest in - the glimpse into the hard work behind a product.

If you haven't been to Bushfire before, then welcome to the club - neither have I. But I hope like me, you'll be here to experience it for the first time in the golden Swazi sun on the 25, 26, 27 May 2012. For more information on tickets, programme line up, competitions, brilliant photographs and videos from the previous years, sponsor acknoledgements, applications and stories around MTN BUSHFIRE, visit http://www.bushfire.co.sz/. And for Bushfire family that have been around from the beginning, note that this year, we're MTN BUSHFIRE. Right, plug done.

Today marks exactly 2 months of me working with the festival. It's been.... overwhelming - in a great way. My predecessors, Frances Longley and Kathy Shenoy left me with big boots to fill. But I'd like to think my feet grow by the day. I am learning so much from this, I cannot begin to fathom what it will be like afterwards. Right now, I live, breathe, dream Bushfire. It's true, last night I dreamt that I had misplaced a contact and woke up stunned - really though, I just needed a midnight pee.

All for now.

Jem
Festival Coordinator

It's beginning to look a lot like April!

That tingly sense of excitement that happens for children on Christmas eve.... the building anticipation of a pregnant mothers approaching due date.... the ball aching tedious kind of excitement that happens when you wait for something you bought on the internet... to me, all of these feel like waiting in line at the dentist compared to the feeling I have in early April... IT'S TASTING SEASON!!

Every year, literally TENS of people apply to trade at bushfire. The majority of these are potential food traders. Applications close at the start of April, and then the next phase of applications begins. The applicants whose application forms show the most promise are invited to an interview here at House on Fire. For these interviews, traders are encouraged to bring a sample of their menu for us to test the quality of. This simple act of quality control adds a new sense of meaning to my life, for about a month. During this periods I get presented with variety of dishes to feed my temporarily inflated sense of sense worth. A particular highlight last year was a lovely lady who made curry. The 'sample' she brought not only fed three people for two meals, but was by far the best curry I have had since arriving in Swaziland. This is exactly the kind of thing we are looking for at bushfire, and although I do enjoy it, it is an important part of the selection procedure.

Hosting traders at the festival without tasting their food is like having artists on the stage who's music you haven't listened to. Despite the obvious professional benefits that these sampling sessions have, there are still a few people who have the opinion that the sessions are a way of me having a nice free lunch donated by generous traders. This assumption is about 5% accurate. It is almost completely professional, and by not paying for it, I feel it helps with maintaining objectivity. In addition to the curry, other highlights were Italian food and bunny chow; which was actually the first one I ever had. Quite how a loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with curry hasn't become an international phenomenon makes no sense to me. I blame Atkins.

As it happens, I have my first sampling session today. Someone came into my office yesterday to hand in their application form (something that we have taken measures to avoid this year), and they were describing all of the different samples they were going to bring, and they were all ready to cook whenever I was free. Unfortunately, this meeting took place at 12:15; this meant that I was just at the start of the period before lunch when concentration flitters away, to be replaced by the angry churning monster that lives in my belly at regular intervals for a few hours each day. The presence of this grumbly little inhabitant meant only one thing. I arranged an interview/ sampling session to happen the very next day at 12:00. If they had the food with them at the time, the meeting would have been a day sooner. It turns out that all of the planning and fretting about the quality of applications can be overridden by offering to bring me prawn cakes. I'll be perfectly honest and say that the long list of items these two charming ladies proposed to sell at MTN BUSHFIRE turned into white noise after I heard 'prawn cakes'… sold. But I have since read the application, and it is strong enough to warrant an interview.

So I will let you know how this session goes, and as you can tell, I am greatly anticipating it.


Mr Rob
Bushfire Traders' Manager

Food Glorious Food!

Food is an amazing thing, we all need it, nearly all of us enjoy it, some of us study it, some of us devote our lives to it and some people still eat McDonalds.

For hundreds of years, different cultures have developed unique methods of cooking and endless different combinations of herbs and spices that makes their countries food unique. For centuries, this food has been all each civilization has known, dishes that evolve to suit their climate, from warming soups and stews to light summery salads. Then, some clever sod decided to use a boat to go and explore a bit, as a result, these different foods were able to travel across the world, at great cost, to be delivered to the highest paying customers. Thanks to modern transport, we now find ourselves in a truly unique historical situation, in between the invention of the plane and it's inevitable banning for environmental issues, we can now enjoy any food we please made from any ingredient from around the world. As a result, we have opportunities to offer people an amazing experience; to sample food from all over the world.

The spirit of MTN BUSHFIRE can be seen all over the festival. From the diverse selection of artists performing, to the different crafts and food available. Whether you like to experience the food of different cultures, or you need something to soak up an afternoons over indulgence, the MTN BUSHFIRE Foodfair has it all. From traditional Swazi cultural delights, to an array of European and Asian offerings.

I personally, love food. I love it so much, I have it at least three times a day. There aren't many things that I enjoy that much that I have as frequently, and it's not just about survival. There are many people in the world who do not enjoy food, it is merely fuel to keep them going through their presumably dull lives. This blog is not for these people. If you are one of these people, there are many other things happening at MTN BUSHFIRE this year, so please feel free to read about them, as I will have nothing interesting to say to you. That being said, I will not have too much of interest to say to the majority of people either. However, here I am, 'blogging' about the MTN BUSHFIRE Foodfair.

You're probably wondering why I am blogging about the food areas, and the simple answer is that I manage these areas. I joined the bushfire team last January and I managed the traders at Bushfire Festival 2011. To keep you up to date on the progress this year, we have been receiving countless applications from traders all over the world, and we are almost finished, the application closes at the end of this week. This does not mean that the applications will stop coming in however as the term 'applications have closed' is like the starting pistol for the majority of people, who feel it would be unreasonable to apply during the open period. I myself am one of those people, losing at least 10% in late penalties on most of my university coursework, to counter this next year, we will open applications with the term 'applications have closed'. Fool proof.

Over the coming weeks, I will offer a smorgasbord of food based blog entries. After applications are approved, there will be a regular 'Trader Spotlight' section in which we profile one of the successful candidates that will be appearing at the festival. This will most likely become the weekly, if not twice weekly highlight of your cyber life! There will be interactive elements as well, where you can have your say!!  

So plenty for you to look forward to over the next two months. Alternatively, please join well over 99.99% of the earths population and ignore this blog, or stop reading hlaf way through. Go on.... be a sheep.

Mr Rob

Bushfire Traders' Manager

BAFTA nominee British actor Richard E. Grant becomes Bushfire Festival Patron

“By supporting this year’s Bushfire, you will be rewarded with wonderful music as well as helping the Young Heroes Aids Orphans initiative. Like that Beatles song -HELP-ME-HELP-YOU-HELP-WE-HELP.”

Award-winning actor Richard E. Grant has shown overwhelming support of the Bushfire Festival by becoming the festival’s patron. Born and raised in Swaziland, Richard heart is still very attached to the Kingdom- he even wears 2 watches, one set to Swazi time!!

Having studied at Cape Town University, he co-founded the Troup Theatre Company before moving to the UK where he got his first big break with the cult hit “Withnail and I”.

We asked Richard a few questions about his involvement in the festival:

BF: Do you still feel a connection to Swaziland?
REG: Where I was born and brought up, so like a swallow, fly back every year.
BF: Favourite thing about Swaziland?
REG: My friends, Sibebe, swimming in the Umbeluzi and the spirit of the country

BF: House on Fire is...
REG: the creative heart and hearth of Swaziland. Warms your soul.

Q: Bushfire Festival in a nutshell?
REG: Nothing lifts your spirits higher than experiencing live music together with other people.

Q: Tell us your thoughts on Bushfire's 'social message'…
REG: Music and drama ‘ feed’ the soul and imagination like nothing else. Bush-fire aims to spread the message like wild fire.

Q: What's your interest in being a patron to Bushfire?
REG: Hoping that I can give something back to Swaziland that has given me so much.

Q: Bushfire is unique because...
REG: Founders, Jiggs and Sholto Thorne are the sons of my late great friend Jenny, who inspired enormous loyalty and did things ‘her’ way, when many people ‘nay-sayed’. Her spirit of adventure and creativity are alive and well in her sons who have created this unique venue that attracts people from far and wide.

Bushfire 2011