When I first heard the Grahamstown National Arts Festival tagline of "Welcome to Amazing!" the copyrighter in me found it a tad twee - which doesn't change the fact that it's absolutely true.

Today is day three of my 12th or 13th ArtsFest; and indeed amazed again am I! There is something so preciously beautiful about people at the top of their game sharing their gift. And so many of them are here right now. 

Last night I was lucky enough to see the grand masters strumming together - Tony Cox and Steve Newman - the two men who are to South African acoustic guitar what BB King and Muddy Waters are to Blues - Chairmen of the Board! The ineffable ease with which they individually picked intricate note structures that felt like they should clash, but fused spectacularly together, literally had some of us jawdopped and slightly stunned. At one stage they were playing two different songs - one each - and then swopping back and fro. Amazing! Beyond!

Steve's actually staying with me. Tony also did, in previous years. Both of them, two years ago when I was a brand new drummer barely capable of "one and two and three and four ... and one ..." sat down and jammed with me in my lounge. How gracious! How kind! Tonight Steve plays the last set of our SunshiP first festival show with us. Before that we have Rick van Heerden - a phenomenal saxophonist - also do a set with us, followed by Lawrence Sistika on electric violin and electro-mandolin. It's festival after all! And with greatness all around, we're grabbing every opportunity to tap into it, groove, and help create 'amazing'. Hopefully. So nice to want to try!

But the top of gameness that permeates Gtown as it explodes into an epic pyrotechnic display of human creative capability, extends to more than the performers. I bumped into my mate Ryan, one of fest's technical directors, at the botanical gardens this morning, as we followed hoardes of enthralled kids, (I my nephew) - who themselves were following 'fairies and goblins' doing trapeze on the trees, silk dances off branches, racing around on artificial prosthetics, appearing, disappearing, interacting with the kids, abseiling high above the lawns. That performance alone as a technical feat was significant. Imagine hundreds of venues and thousands of shows, exhibitions and installations needing sound, light, sets bla bla bla. Fest's technical requirements equate to what you'd need to host two Woodstocks and a Glastonbury all at the same time - in a town the size of Rosebank and Illovo. A lot of trucks have been pulling in for a month already. And a whole lot of people have had to red line their internal rev counters to make what's so incredibly difficult seem so unbelievably easy to others.      

At the show in the botanical gardens this morn - which is one of a series of massive performances from international acrobatic troupes in a variety of incredible locations around town that are free to all - I saw kids believe in magic with all their warmest hearts. And I, like them, am coming to believe in amazing even more. Tonight we gig! And that alone's truly more than amazing for me!