[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch I enjoyed going to the Knysna Oyster Festival and while it may not be a summer festival I thought it's worth mentioning. It was a decent festival and I had loads of fun there.




The Knysna Oyster Festival is often featured as the “Best 10 Days of Winter” at one of South Africa’s best outdoor family and community events. The two most popular events at the festival are the Pick n Pay Cape Times Forest Marathon and the Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Bike Tour.

Kids and teens always love this major summer festival in South Africa, which is hardly surprising considering all the activities designed for them. They will enjoy family walks and tours and will definitely find something in one (or all) of the many restaurants. But on top of that, art, crafts, the IKASI Color Fun Run (only five kilometres long), face painting, bouncy castles, and more await them.
When: June, July
Where: Knysna

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot It would be odd indeed to have the oyster festival in Summer, if memory serves me, the conventional wisdom suggests that oysters are to be eaten during the months that have no letter "R" in their name. It is an old rule, though, put in place before refrigerators were a thing, but still, better safe than sorry.

As for festivals for the kids, those are interesting. They are always fun, but personally, I feel a bit alienated at times at those, because I have no kids of my own. Besides, if there's one thing more unbearable than a big crowd of adults, it would probably be a big crowd of kids.

[DracoTarot]

@DoctorEldritch Most of the Oysters at the festival comes from farmers who grow them in healthy water and do not harvest from the ocean making it much safer to eat.

Traditionally September to April people harvest from the ocean and they are not distributed to supermarkets and only sold locally.

I try my best to avoid kids playing areas at festivals. I also do not have kids of my own and am not really fond of other people's children running around all over the place where I want to enjoy myself. Don't get me wrong. I do not have anything against children. They are just too demanding and I can't handle the stresses. 😂

[DoctorEldritch]

@DracoTarot I thought that the reasoning for that rule came from air temperature rather than harvest season. As in, months without "R" in their names are all warmer months, so seafood spoils easier and faster, and it is best to eat it when it's colder outside. Local oysters are nice, never tried South African ones.

But at one point in my life, I was living on an island in the English Channel and when it was in season, people were fishing for crabs. There was no festival dedicated to it, but you could get fresh crab meat easily, and they would put it in salads and sandwiches. It was nice.

That's the thing about children, they can be stressful. I don't know how people who work with them, kindergarten teachers and the like, deal with that stress...

[Saharr]

@DoctorEldritch
I'm more into Samurai stuff😅

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saharr Samurai as in Code of Bushido or periods when they were active, or their "Bunbu Ryodo" arts? Or maybe mythology or fighting techniques? @Saka would probably know some, though not sure how far modern sportsmanship Kendo is from its more military combat-oriented origins.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Traditional kenjutsu is closer to the samurai arts, but modern kendo is still based on them, just evolved into the way of a sport that can be practiced safely and potentially made a show of, compared to traditional sword slashing.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka I remember reading somewhere about modern martial arts that competitive ones include too much showmanship now, as well as they should. And that "practical" martial arts that they teach you in spec ops and the like are quite different: they are not designed to be competitive or a spectacle, they are designed for efficiency. When the primary goal is not to win a tournament but rather to disable an opponent, they are designed to break bones or damage vision, for example. I'd rather choose a more peaceful sports martial arts over that any day. But then again, I'd rather not come into physical contact at all.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch That's true. Kendo is not going to be particularly useful if you find yourself in a life-threatening situation. I think all what you get from is the physical aspect - it is a lot of cardio, so you might be able to run away. Alternatively, maybe some strength in arms and legs from all the swinging. But the techniques are not going to be of any use. The bamboo swords are not designed to do harm and the most likely outcome is that you would just bruise up and annoy your opponent a lot.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka A bamboo sword is probably still better than nothing. I think you can actually hurt people with it if they do not have protective headgear? At least, in anime and movies about both Kendo and European fencing, they always make a point about not engaging until headgear is in place.