Power to the hour

Guitarists, Joel Pearson and Duncan Park, from the band Folklore, play music at an Earth Hour event in Botanic Gardens . Behind them, a fire poi artist paints the night air with fire.
Photo by Gabi Falanga

Joel Pearson, a guitarist in the band Folklore, picks out intricate blues-folk tunes at an Earth Hour event in Grahamstown.
Photo by Gabi Falanga

Voices of Glory choir sing “Heal the World”, apt for the occasion, which aims to raise awareness to protect our planet. Photo by Gabi Falanga

A drumsoc member paints the air with her fire poi during an Earth Hour event in Botanic Gardens on Saturday night. Photo by Gabi Falanga

The view from Settler's Monument during Earth Hour on Saturday was no different from the view on any other night. Most of Grahamstown stayed lit throughout the hour, with the exception of a handful of households.
Photo by Dianne Jordan.

Earth hour is a symbolic designated hour, during which people around the world switch off all their lights and electrical appliances to show support for climate change and making responsible environmental lifestyle choices.
A large group of people gathered in the Botanical Gardens on Saturday night to acknowledge the event, which was organised by a number of Rhodes University societies. And although it was well attended, I couldn’t help being slightly disappointed.
I was imagining a peaceful event, huddled up on blankets, listening to chilled-out live music. The huddled-up-on-blankets part was realised - but, alas, not the peaceful part.
Student band, Folklore, with their characteristic blues-folk style, was drowned out by the raucous screams and shouts of people getting hopelessly sloshed. It felt like many people attended the event as just another excuse to have a piss-up.
But maybe I should get used to the fact that drinking, darkness and live music seem to be inseparable. Added to this, it did not seem like any lights in town or on campus had been switched off – well, at least not the ones I could see through the trees.
Not long after Folklore finished playing, Voices of Glory choir took up their spot on the grassy "stage". They sang an absolutely beautiful rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”, which struck an emotional chord with those present.
They were followed by a rather, um, interesting poet, who recited a poem that was meant to be sensual, but came across as raunchy - not quite fitting with the occasion. He did make an impression on some crowd members, though, who giggled uncontrollably (and were probably blushing), as he described how he was going to travel the contours of a woman’s body.
It would be unfair of me to make it sound like the evening was all bad. The turn-out was impressive and hopefully this means that environmental consciousness is spreading.
Student society Gaian Revolutions And Social Solutions (Grass) had put candles in brown paper bags, which had been painted by children and dotted them around the Gardens.
Between performances, Drum Soc’s rhythmic beats filled the air and their fire poi performers had the audience in awe.
My favourite part of the evening was when I saw Saturn through one of Astro Soc’s telescopes. It looked like a big, super-shiny star, with bright stripes on either side of it – its rings.
Even though I was disappointed by the event, it did have a festive atmosphere and is definitely a step in the right direction.
Here’s to incorporating sustainable decisions into our everyday lives and looking forward to a bigger and even better earth hour next year.

Published in Grocott's Mail on 29 March 2011.