Join Greenpop and the Two Oceans Aquarium for an idyllic, fun-filled weekend in the ancient, breathtaking Platbos Forest from 10 to 12 or 17 to 19 March.

The annual Reforest Fest is full of music, play, digging in and getting dirty, and it is your chance to help plant thousands of trees, and (re)connect with nature along with a forest full of friends!

Together we’ll help rehabilitate Platbos and experience the spirit of holistic green living as we plant trees, camp under the stars and the milkwoods, dance to live music, and become a part of growing Platbos Forest Reserve back to its original abundance.

The Two Oceans Aquarium is one of the official waste partners of the Greenpop Reforest Fest Weekends. We’ll be there throughout both weekends to talk to you about the pledges you can make for a better earth. Reusable shopping bags are at the top of our list of priorities and Two Oceans Aquarium Environmental Campaigner Hayley McLellan – who founded Rethink the Bag – will be there in person to raise awareness about the dangers of single-use plastic.

We’ll also be encouraging you to rethink all your waste and to ask yourself some serious questions: Do you really need a straw? What can you use instead of balloons when celebrating a birthday, wedding or similar happy event?  What is up-cycling and how can you implement it in your daily life? What are other ways to reduce the use of plastic?

The festival is split between a Family weekend and a Friends weekend.

The tree-planting sessions take place all day on both Saturdays and this is definitely the highlight of the weekend, as well as the whole reason for getting your hands dirty! 

The Family weekend welcomes children of all ages, offers a range of exciting activities to get kids and adults interacting with nature and each other, and ensures that music stops at about 10:30pm on Saturday night to give everyone a good night’s rest in the forest. The Aquarium's roaming Puppet Stories puppet show will be "lending a hand" during the family weekend, too. 

The Friends weekend is the perfect place to bring old friends and meet new ones. The party goes on for longer and the eco-workshops and talks are aimed at a more adult audience, although all ages are welcome at both events!

Event info

We value inclusivity and want the festival to be accessible to as many different people as possible. If you can afford it, please consider purchasing Generosity ticket. For every Generosity ticket purchased, we will be able to offer a subsidised ticket to someone who cannot afford the regular ticket price. 

Family weekend: 10 to 12 March 2017

• Check out the Family Weekend on Facebook or buy tickets here 

Friends weekend: 18 to 20 March 2016 

• Check out the Friends Weekend on Facebook or buy tickets here

About Greenpop

Greenpop is a Cape Town-based social enterprise on a mission to (re)connect people with our planet and with each other through planting trees - and have a whole lot of fun doing it. Reforestation festivals are a cornerstone of what they do, and the Greenpop Reforest Fest is a beautiful example. In 2015, festival-goers planted 8001 trees in the Platbos Forest Reserve, helping rehabilitate this ancient forest back to its former abundance, and over two weekends they pushed the total number of trees planted by Greenpop over the 50 000 mark.

What to expect at the Reforest Fest Family and Friends weekends

Friday: Arrive Friday evening and relax into a chilled night of gentle tunes under the canopy of the ancient indigenous forest. Enjoy delicious food and start bonding with new friends around the campfire.

Saturday: Saturday is an action-packed day of tree-planting and getting your hands dirty, helping to restore an ecosystem that is one of the most rare and endangered in the Western Cape. After planting thousands of trees in your teams, return to camp for a good shower and a forest party to celebrate the achievement. Greenpop provides an awesome musical line-up at the intimate main stage, with some of South Africa's coolest emerging bands as well as a talent show and entertainment for the whole family. Line up to be announced soon!

Sunday: Sunday is a day to relax your body and stimulate your mind. It’s filled with fun, educational activities and workshops including:

• Forest walks
• Yoga
• Hula Hooping
• Interactive music sessions and instrument making
• Arts and crafts
• Talks by various personalities in conservation and sustainable living
• Talent shows
• Performances
• Treasure hunts
• Aquarium Puppet Shows (on the Family weekend)
• And some surprises

About Platbos

Platbos is an ancient relic forest with trees that are over 1 000 years old. This forest is part of one of the rare and endangered ecosystems of the Western Cape, with a unique mix of indigenous trees from both coastal regions and mountainous regions! The forest is situated near Gansbaai in the Overberg region, 2.5 hours from Cape Town.

Like many natural forests around the world, parts of Platbos have been cleared in the past century for cultivation. This means that the trees that would naturally grow there have been cut down. Today, many of these cleared areas are being taken over by dense invasive alien vegetation, which makes it difficult for the indigenous trees to grow back, and also poses a serious fire risk to the whole forest.

In response to this issue, Melissa and Francois Krige of Platbos have launched the Trees for Tomorrow reforestation programme. Through this, endemic seeds are harvested from the forest, reared in the Platbos Forest Tree Nursery and then replanted to expand the forest and help to return it to the way it once was. It’s important to plant endemic trees because they are especially adapted to droughts, keep the fires out, and serve as a food source for the bird and animal species that rely on the Platbos ecosystem for survival.