By Friday afternoon, Graaff-Reinet will once again begin to hum with the unmistakable energy of festival weekend as buses roll in, boarding houses fill up and sports bags, sticks and rugby boots appear across the Union campus.
From ๐ฎ๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet will host the ๐ฏ๐ณ๐๐ต ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป of its beloved annual rugby and hockey festival, welcoming around 650 learners and more than 100 accompanying staff members from across South Africa for a weekend that has long become one of the highlights of the schoolโs sporting calendar.
This yearโs event carries added significance, as the festival enters a new chapter under a new name. From 2026 onward, it will officially be known as the ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ & ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ – a fitting tribute to one of Unionโs most treasured stalwarts and to the man who helped set this special tradition in motion.
The roots of the festival stretch back to ๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ณ, when ๐ ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐น๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป, alongside colleague Gail McArthur, hosted Unionโs first sporting festival on campus. What began as a modest initiative has, over nearly four decades, grown into a much-anticipated three-day celebration of school sport, spirited competition and the kind of camaraderie that so often becomes the lasting memory of weekends like these. With the exception of the Covid-interrupted years of 2020 and 2021, the festival has remained a faithful fixture on the Union calendar.
For Union, that continuity matters. So too does the spirit in which the festival is hosted.
Unionโs ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐ ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ, said there is a lot of excitement around the school as players prepare to welcome visiting teams from all over the country.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต,โ he said. โ๐๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ง ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.โ
While the matches themselves will no doubt be keenly contested, Beck emphasised that the heart of the weekend lies in something broader than results alone.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด,โ he said.
That, perhaps, is what has always given the festival its enduring appeal. Yes, there will be hard tackles, quick passing movements, determined defence and moments of individual brilliance. But there will also be reunion, laughter, team songs, sideline chats, shared meals and the simple joy of young people gathering through sport in a town that knows how to welcome guests well.
This yearโs participating schools include ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ผรซ๐ฟ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฏ๐๐ฟ๐ด, ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ผรซ๐ฟ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ข๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐พ๐๐ฎ, ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ผรซ๐ฟ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ก๐ถ๐ฐ๐ผ ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป, ๐๐ผรซ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ผรซ๐ฟ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ด, ๐๐ผรซ๐ฟ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ข๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ท๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ธ๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐น๐โ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฒ, ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต, ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐ฆ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, as well as ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐.
The school has also acknowledged the invaluable support of the festivalโs anchor sponsors, Astron Energy Eastern Cape, together with local fuel sponsors Astron Energy Graaff-Reinet, represented by ๐ ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ, and Astron Energy Bothas Market Square, represented by ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป and ๐ ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ถ๐. They are photographed with hockey captain Leigh-Ann Murray, vice-captain Misha Newton, rugby captain Liso Booi and vice-captain Yaaseen Kazi.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.
Over the coming days, Unionโs fields and Astro will once again play host to all the colour, noise and emotion that make school festivals so special. For players, it will be a chance to test themselves, represent their schools and make memories. For spectators, it will be an opportunity to enjoy high-quality school sport in a festive and welcoming atmosphere. And for Union, it will be another proud moment in the life of a tradition that continues to grow while remaining true to its roots.
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐, ๐ต๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ-๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR VIEW FESTIVAL PROGRAMME: https://www.unionschools.co.za/upcoming-sport-fixtures/
