There have been snowy Bastille Days, rainy Bastille Days, but this year the Bonne Dieu smiled on this corner of France and gave us a truly great Bastille Day. On Saturday 3700 hungry and thirsty patriots invaded the marquee and on Sunday more than 4000 sans culottes outdid them.

But then, what would Bastille Day be without a parade? And what would a parade be without the Solms-Delta musicians?  This year, 222 years after the original event, saw the biggest contingent of musicians yet.

There were the Delta Valley Entertainers, consisting of the Delta Langbroek band, the Delta Bluestars, the Kylemore Youth Band, and the Pniel Brass Band. Accompanying the musicians was the Solms-Delta marching troupe, running from the tiny Klein Handjies crèche children to the mature and weathered vineyard workers, led by the indomitable Tante Hanna.  Like the Duke of Wellington, they marched up the Main Street and then they marched back down again. The masses of visitors certainly showed their appreciation of the Kaapse music and the colourful costumes, cheering and clapping as the bands marched past.

 

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