I'm a Lumberjack and I'm ok...

So it was that the Lumber Games gave accountants, IT technicians and estate agents the opportunity to tap into their primal need to cut though tree stumps while the proud and, no doubt, lustful womenfolk cheered them on from the sidelines. But the games weren't limited to building the male ego and, after cheering their menfolk, the ladies also went into the ring to saw through stuff.

Child-friendly, despite axe throwing

For an event that promotes axe throwing as a sport, the Lumberjack Festival was remarkably child-friendly. All the activities for the children were to the power of 10. In addition to the standard jumping castles (two, not one) there was tree climbing on a super-high tree that could only be climbed with a harness, and a swing that you could not even look at without being strapped into. But all of that paled in comparison with the paper planes, the game of real children.

Lievland Wine Estate is perfectly laid out for the event with its different levels and views of the forest, the dam and all the Lumber Games activities. It was easy to keep an eye of one's offspring while not having to be in the midst of the throng. And the live music stage and the games areas were far enough from each other not to have to compete with sound.

In anticipation of this becoming a popular annual event, I for one am going to put in some practice with my tree-felling.

The Yays

• The small town prices for the food and drink
• Excellent family-friendly fun
• The proximity of the event to Cape Town
• Live music with Jeremy Loops and Valiant Swart as headliners
• The threatening rain that only let a few raindrops fall
• Paper jets

The Nays

• The majority of the prizes at the Lumber Games were won by people who worked at the festival
• No programme of the live music - on the Internet or the festival itself

Article previously published on www.whatsonincapetown.com