As Oppikoppi: The Fantastic Mr Vos Vos (2015) is over, the best we can do is try to go on with life after this great festival (while counting down to the next one, of course).
But how do you return to reality after an escape such as this?
With friendliness all over, a distinguished lack of screens and a permanent resonance in the air as the music is pumping, Oppi builds up the emotions to such a point that life after it carries a certain melancholy with it, a post-Oppi blues, if you will.
This is, of course, only a temporary dip, which forms part of the ever fluctuating human condition.
The exact reasons for this post-Oppi blues might go unproven for some time, but scientists have been speculating for decades (not really).
- It’s a different environment altogether.
Almost no screens, no authority, no TV, no traffic (except on the way out) and a tighter community than anywhere else.
The awesome tunes and hilarious stuff of the Koppi also make it more than worthwhile.
All this changes when we return to the city, contributing to the blues.
- Oppi is a vacation and no one likes returning to work from a vacation.
- The people we meet.
Meeting great people is definitely one of the highlights of Oppi, as the friendships you form there are carried over for years to come, either once a year at the Koppi, or throughout if you live close enough to one another.
The bonds formed with all the incredible Oppi-goers is sometimes so strong you miss them as you get back home.
For me this year was another fantastic ride on the Oppi bus.
We had breakfast with friends (even though they live on the other side of the camp).
We heard some of the funniest (albeit worst) obscenities spoken by man, throughout the weekend.
The music was great.
I regret not watching as many of the acts as I had planned to, but there were several intriguing artists I saw this year, including Cortina Whiplash, Shortstraw, Albert Frost, Toya Delazy, Lee Thomson and Laurinda Hofmeyr.
With all that happened and the memories I’ve gained, Oppi was well worth the blues that follow it.
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