Bloemskou 2014

It’s that time of the year again that all South Africans have been waiting for…. Hmmm, well, maybe that time of the year all Bloemfonteiners have been waiting for… Okay, maybe just that time of the year Marc has been waiting for… (and I’m sure a few other people too) ….. The annual Bloemskou! This year was our 7th Bloemskou together!

Bloemskou is a festival held in Bloemfontein around this time every year. It’s actually quite fun with lots of stalls, yummy food and interesting things to see. It’s not the biggest festival in the country but it’s definitely worth a visit if you are in the vicinity. This year’s skou was pretty impressive!

Like every year, there were many interesting stalls selling anything from jewelry, clothing, furniture, art, Verimark products and handmade shoes. There is also a theme park with a few retro rides to go on. We suspect the rides are exactly the same ones that they used at the very first Bloemskou in 1883. Perhaps not that old but they are really pretty old…a little bit scary! According to the South African local tourism website the first skou was held in 1883!

The food at the skou is always a highlight! We ordered shwarmas which were delicious. (We waited about a million years for our 4 shwarmas to be made because there was a lady that ordered about 50 shwarmas in the queue in front of us!..the shwarmas were worth the wait though.) We also bought the yummiest chilli-stick biltong, home-made toffee and blue slush-puppy. There was so much food to choose from! This year there was even sushi on sale!

There’s live music and entertainment, baby train rides and horse shows. There’s a whole hall with chickens and different birds in it. You can have a look at prize winning bulls and watch sheep sheering contests. (If that’s what you into.)

We had vintage photos taken at the one stall. Marc got the one photo for free because the photographer was so chuffed with Marc’s beard. (Perhaps he should look into becoming a beard model..!?.) We didn’t miss the other opportunities for free photos either- one at the Courant photo booth and thee other at the Toyota stand.

Our 7th Bloemskou was very enjoyable! If you are in Bloemfontein, you can still go to the skou tomorrow (Friday) if you haven’t been yet. Otherwise, the rest of you will have to wait another year for the next Bloemen lêka Bloemskou! 😉