Return To The Source Festival

Return To The Source is a boutique festival, inspired in 2020 as a reaction against the loss of human rights suffered when the Covid-19 pandemic decimated an important part of our culture. Our first edition in October 2020 was intended for a very small group of friends and grew into something quite extraordinary. With two festivals per annum, we intend to preserve the freedom, safe, intimate & inspiring environment created thus far.

At the core of this experience is The SPIRIT Train (affectionately known as LOBO) – a passion project that was born on the desert playa of Afrikaburn in 2014, and came to life in 2015. After quite some hibernation LOBO has found his new home within the characteristic Tankwa Tented Camp.

A new journey has begun…a conscious community gathering around music, art, light, love, and a wealth of information that exists in this radical space. Freedom is our birthright and the remote nature of this location nurtures that aspect of our very cores. Beyond the diverse sonic landscape curated over three days and two dance stages, you will find yourself immersed in sensory stimuli…from the moment you enter our gates all your guards are left behind and you will be welcomed by the very playful gate crew and a friendly spanking. Thereafter you will experience engaging performance acts, our daytime marketplace & workshop space, massage tables, the never-to-be-forgotten Tankwa Rise & Shine sensory explosion…and a whole lot more. The creators behind The SPIRIT Train are a lethal combination of creative vision meets engineering meets technology. This powerful energy manifests itself over the four-day experience, and you will experience something unrivalled – both externally and internally – by returning to your own source of power!

The project’s previous (2015-2019) heavy involvement at Afrikaburn Festival gained worldwide recognition as the continent’s most prominent mutant/art vehicle and has also been revered as Afrikaburn’s own ‘Robot Heart’ (USA’s/Burning Man Festival’s most prominent mutant vehicle). It is for this reason that RTTS Festival has garnered an ever-growing interest from abroad – attracting guests from as far as Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, England, Kenya, Zambia & Johannesburg). RTTS Festival is thus a complement to South Africa’s landscape of world-class music festivals.