16 tonnes of bristling fruit makes this a prime prickly pageant! But this spiky little Mexican fruit hasn't always had a smooth history in South Africa. Initially introduced as fodder for stock and hedging, these fruity fellas thrived under the South African sun and went forth and multiplied. So much so, that in 1937 the Eastern Cape Agricultural Board declared the crop an 'alien undesirable' that had to be erradicated. Half a century later there was an about turn and now the prickly 'cactus pear' or 'Indian fig' enjoys a legitimate crop status. In 1987 the Caylor Manor Museum in Uitenhague held the first Prickly Pear Festival and attendance has grown to over 15 000 visitors.
This fun family festival is usually held in late February or early March at Cuyler Hofstede farm near
Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape's Nelson Mandela Bay. Kids will find plenty of entertaining things to do. Grumbling tummies won't go hungry with array of
yummy traditional food such as ginger beer, pancakes, potjiekos, home-made
jam, a spit braai and fish braai, bunnychow and home-made puddings on offer. And of course the star of the show features as a prime ingredient and you can buy all manor of 'pear products' ranging from pickles and jams to prickly pear witblits, the local moonshine distilled in 19th Century copper stills. ¡Ay, caramba!
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