Bushfire 2025: Inside the design of Africa’s most inspiring festival

I come to Bushfire as a photographer, and organiser of gigs for the pop-up arts initiative called Dark Arts Curfew Club. These are the eyes through which I see it.

A festival should be a dynamic bubble putting visitors safely outside their comfort zone, gifting them a unique and memorable experience they could have only in that time and place.

People come to be stimulated. They want to be thrilled. And they seek new things. A great festival delivers high-quality performances they haven’t seen before. Bushfire books the best acts, and provides an environment in which they can bring their best.

The technical quality of sound and light boosts the excitement. Bushfire nails this element, basking the reveller in warm light and hot sounds.

The logistics have to be smooth. From booking to travel, crossing the border, moving around the festival, getting food and drink, finding a clean toilet – all are critical to the overall experience. The organisation is as important as the music. We hassle at home, and we come to have easy fun at Bushfire. 

There needs to be an intellectual underpinning to a good event, a cerebral raison d’etre that locates it in its social and cultural context. Bushfire is more than just a party. It is aware of its place on the continent’s cultural calendar, its role in building Africa’s arts community, and its responsibility as educator and provider.

I’ve been to Bushfire five times and it’s one of the highlights of my year.

I love the people. This is where I meet other Africans, where children and families are safe, and where I am on the continent I dream of, diverse and loving and free, celebrating what makes us human and what makes us feel most alive.

This is a festival that delivers in its world-class curation of exciting music from indie world to challenging electro – mostly African, lots from eSwatini, but with smoking hot surprise acts from all over the world.

I’ve moved with the throng to amapiano on the dance stage, felt my spirits soar with Malawi’s Madalitso on a kick drum and tea chest, watched Colombians play a bicycle wheel, grooved with the fire circus and been surprised by a Pretoria punk act in the barn.

I’ve seen West African legends and Congolese cowboys, rockers from Europe and African youth choirs that fill me with hope and inspiration.

Bushfire is no accident. This is a festival of tight design, great planning, an inspired team, and people who love what they do.

Jonathon Rees is a highly experienced photographer and writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are solely his own and do not reflect the position or stance of the publication.