Hey Neighbour Festival
Hey Neighbour Festival was a hit. Image Credit: Provided by PR

Home » Hey Neighbour Festival: The 5 biggest talking points [review]

Hey Neighbour Festival: The 5 biggest talking points [review]

The first-ever Hey Neighbour Festival was a massive success with several highlights for music lovers. We take a look at the top five.

By Tinashe Venge
13-12-23 14:16
in Entertainment
Hey Neighbour Festival
Hey Neighbour Festival was a hit. Image Credit: Provided by PR

The inaugural Hey Neighbour Festival took place in Gauteng this past weekend and now that the dust has settled, we take a look at some of the biggest talking points from this year’s event.

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The three-day festival invited music lovers from across Africa to trek all the the way to the Legends Adventure Farm in Pretoria which served as the venue for the first-ever edition fo the Hey Neighbour Festival. Headliners included international A-listers, Khalid, H.E.R, Swedish House Mafia, Kendrick Lamar as well as local giants Zakes Bantwini, Tyla and loads more. It was a weekend worth remembering, although not without one or two speed bumps here and there!

ALSO READ: Rema to miss Hey Neighbour performance due to health reasons

THE FIVE BIGGEST TALKING POINTS FROM HEY NEIGHBOUR FESTIVAL

1. A world-class, African event!

Hey Neighbour was truly a top tier spectacle, from the scale of the event itself to the quality of performances we witnessed across several days of musical action. The staging, the stalls, the vendors, the artwork, the merchandise and so many other elements made it feel like we had been transported to a fun and friendly musical village where the vibes and energy are always positive. Except when you needed to line up for something. Which leads us to…

ALSO READ: Rema to shine at Mzansi’s ‘Hey Neighbour’ festival

2. Queues…

The queues for food as well as for filling up tags (it was a ticketless event and cash had to be loaded onto wristbands or media cards). While the ticketless system isn’t perfect, we’ve seen it can be effective when implemented correctly. At Hey Neighbour, the systems caused delays for food lines and filling stations, leading to nearly two-hour waiting times.

3. Kendrick Lamar and the Big Steppers

Although it was a weekend of headline acts, the biggest crowdpuller was arguably Kendrick Lamar. The American rapper was the most anticipated headliner and he did not disappoint with an hour long set that featured work from his four hit albums, Good Kid Maad City, To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN and 2022’s Mr Morale and the Big Steppers.

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ALSO READ: Rema, Kendrick Lamar to headline Hey Neighbour festival in SA

TRAFFIC ALMOST RUINS ENDING!

4. Traffic as far as the eye can see

While queues were a problem inside the venue, traffic was an even bigger problem outside of it. Concertgoers reported being stuck in traffic for up to five hours after the last performer had wrapped up. The traffic was largely attributed to there only being one route to exit.

5. The promise for future editions

Despite some of the minor glitches (which can be expected for a first-time event,) Hey Neighbour showed a lot of potential for music lovers. In fact, fans are already looking forward to the next edition and speculating as to who could be coming to South Africa next!

Who would you want to see headlining the next Hey Neighbour?

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