A rainy and sometimes damn near freezing couple of days in Mpumalanga turned out to be one of the best things I’ve done all year. Between side quests with friends, and something that genuinely felt like a small spiritual awakening along the path from the forest to the main stage, Mieliepop Festival 2026 left a mark. And not just because of the mud.
Part of that magic comes from the setting. The trip out to Lothair already feels like leaving the world behind, and once you arrive, the scenery and patchy cell reception do the rest. With little signal and endless hills around you, the festival becomes its own temporary reality, and you stop needing it to be anything else. Aside from the sometimes not-so-great shower and bathroom situation, the folks at Easy Agency pulled off something special.
There’s always chatter about whether the lineup delivers, so I went in curious to see if anything would feel like it was missing. It didn’t. The festival feels thoughtfully curated in a way that larger events rarely manage to pull off. Walking through the grounds, you might hear a gqom banger from one stage while a band tears through a live set somewhere else. Yet, it never feels like a mess. Somehow it all fits, and that’s no small feat – it’s a remarkable achievement in programming.
Thursday kicked things off strong. Dynasty House opened with a chaotic bit of fun that included a man dressed as a traffic cone. Crash and The Void followed with a set full of trippy video effects. The performance wasn’t flawless, but the chemistry between their two guitarists was electric to watch live, the kind of thing that’s impossible to translate on a recording. Up and comers Stereo Club had a decent showing, though their set was let down by a cover of Turnstile that didn’t quite connect. Their sonic shift, while entertaining, makes it hard to pin down what the band is really about.
The real winners of the night were Sisters. Their performance was tight, chaotic in the best way, and left my brain completely scrambled. The band constantly swapped instruments mid-set, showing off just how multi-talented they are, and making you wonder who exactly was in charge. Worms delivered one of the best punk performances of the weekend: raw, fast, and mean in all the right ways. Die Gemeente closed out with a technically sharp set that felt slightly stiff in moments, but loosened up towards the end.
Friday felt more like an adventure day than a strict schedule of shows. I joined a Tune for Tune quiz in the Fruity Forest with some friends and somehow managed to place second. We celebrated like we’d won. Later, I wandered down to Corona Island on the back of a bakkie. The area is one of the most beautiful spots on the resort — a calm, unhurried stretch of water and greenery that felt like a surprisingly necessary reset in the midst of festival chaos.
After the high of Thursday, I found myself harder to impress. A lot of Friday’s performances were solid without being fantastic. The cure to my disposition was to come away from the main stage. It’s how I found myself at the Jägermeisterhaus, which hosted a silent disco that turned into one of the most unexpectedly fun hours of the weekend. Something about people dancing to three different frequencies, united by nothing but headphones and stubbornness, just works.
Fuzigish was a welcome viewing; the veterans of the scene delivered the kind of fun but politically sharp show they’ve always been known for. Their inclusion alongside PHFat and Taxi Violence created a loose but satisfying thread between the old guard and newer acts shaping the local scene. Ignite brought a strong stage presence, even if their music wasn’t entirely my thing. Black Math closed the night out with something funny, progressive, and genuinely memorable, exactly the kind of act that rewards you for staying late.
Saturday was the strongest day of the festival. No festival runs perfectly, and Mieliepop was no exception. A brief power failure hit during Mila Smith’s set, cutting the music mid-song and dropping the stage into silence. Despite this, she kept the momentum going. When the sound returned, she picked up as if nothing had happened, and the crowd received her well. Her bounce back was the kind that separates performers from artists.
SOSSI arrived with a confidence that felt earned rather than assumed, and midway through her set, she delivered a Nicholas Louw cover that stopped people in their tracks. It was the kind of performance that makes you immediately want to find whoever you’re standing next to and confirm you both just saw the same thing. Cape Town rockers, Volk, brought a refreshing take on Afrikaans music that felt contemporary without trying too hard and left a lasting impression. Archi turned an afternoon slot into one of the day’s real highlights. The Black Labone House Band rewarded everyone listening with a sultry jazz performance that made them stand out.
But the defining moment of the weekend came from BCUC. Their set was completely captivating. The crowd moved together, shouted together, and for a while, the whole festival locked into the same rhythm. It felt less like a concert and more like a communal ritual. Days later, I still feel like they healed something in me that I didn’t know needed healing.
Everything at Mieliepop works because it doesn’t try to be everything at once. For a few days, it becomes the perfect escape from city life, a place where you can rave in a cave, stumble onto a new favourite artist on the main stage, or rediscover the power of dance somewhere in the forest. The hiccups were real but handled quickly, and none of them left a lasting dent.
If you’ve never been, go next year. You might come back with a story or two of your own.
Photos courtesy of Ruben Grobler-Bothma and Matthew Edge.
