The College Drama learners in grades 10 and 11 had a wonderful opportunity to attend the Hilton Arts Festival in August.
The group, consisting of 12 learners and two teachers, departed from Hoedspruit at 06:00am on their 11h30min drive. The long drive was broken by three stops until we arrived at Clifton Prep School at 17:30 on the Friday afternoon. A wonderful supper was provided by the boarding house, and we enjoyed the indoor sport facility, playing tennis until late in the evening and allowing us to burn off all the energy that had been pent up by sitting still in the bus for the majority of the day.
The Saturday started with a big breakfast at the boarding house and short drive to Hilton College. The group sat in traffic to enter the school premises and was surprised to see how many people attend this festival. We were given a few hours to explore the festival before the afternoon show. Different activities, including painting, a haunted house, 360-degree dancing videos, singing, and changing a video of yourself into an animation clip, were available to us. All this made us hungry, and we could choose between numerous delicious lunch options – the favorite ones were paninis, dumplings, waffles, boba, pizza, and lots of candy.
The first show watched as a group was a magic show called Impossible. It was filled with laughter and admiration for the magician. The evening show was an amazing show presented by Hilton College Drama learners: Five Guys Named MOE. Learners and teachers loved this show. There was great acting, dancing and singing, and the performers deserved the standing ovation from the audience.
The Sunday started with a wonderful buffet breakfast, before the group headed to the festival for the last show as a group. My Weight and Why I Wear It was a lighthearted, fun play, yet remained relevant to all young adults. At the end of the play, we had just one hour to walk around the festival for the last time.
The afternoon was filled with sightseeing of the area. Piggly Wiggly was the chosen spot for lunch. On the way there, we took some photos at the Howick Waterfall and saw the Mandela Capture sight. Michaelhouse was on the list of places we wanted to see on our way back to the accommodation.
The late afternoon allowed for some downtime. We enjoyed the time to bond as a group and catch up on the stories of the weekend. Adding to the culture experience, learners had a delicious supper at a German restaurant “Bierfassl”.
The last evening of the trip was filled with laughter as learners played tennis, hockey and cricket in the indoor centre until late in the evening.
Monday was an early wake up, specifically to celebrate two birthdays before the group hit the long road back to Hoedspruit. We caught up on sleep during the drive back, and reminisced on the wonderful weekend.
Overall, it was an amazing trip, and we thank Mrs Scheepers and Ms Potgieter for the long drive to KZN and back. We really appreciate their efforts in letting us see the drama world outside of Hoedspruit. Yes, we were a bit noisy at night when it was time to sleep, but we thank you for the amazing journey that will stay in our hearts forever.
