What Was Hidden Behind the Hill: Barrydale’s Giant Puppet Parade Unfolds

On the evening of 14 December 2025, Barrydale’s streets became a moving stage as giant puppets, performers and musicians brought Steek My Weg to life — the annual public puppet parade and performance presented by Net vir Pret.

Departing from the Karoo Art Hotel and culminating in a community performance at BF Oosthuizen Primary School, the parade drew together residents, visitors and families to witness a story shaped quietly over many months by children and young people from the valley.

Directed this year by Sudonia Kouter, the production revealed the collective work, imagination and growth of a generation of young Barrydale performers.

“If you come, you’ll see something amazing,” Kouter told residents at the Karoo Art Hotel ahead of the event. “You see the children and young people of Barrydale. They’ve been working for months and months on this production. So tonight you’ll see what we’ve been hiding away behind the hill.”

A story rooted in history and place

The title Steek My Weg — translated loosely as “Hide me away” — carries deep historical meaning. Kouter explained that the name referred to an old description chosen by people who were forcibly removed and relocated behind the hill during apartheid-era dispossession.

“So we’re saying, yes, we were hidden away,” she said. “But come over the hill and you will see what is happening there.”

The story, written by Kouter, drew directly from the valley — its people, its animals and its memories. While many of the puppets represented creatures native to the Klein Karoo, others appeared intentionally out of place.

“You’ll also see some animals that don’t quite belong in the valley,” she noted beforehand. “But there’s a reason why they are there.”

Growing up with the parade

For Kouter, the parade was both a professional milestone and a deeply personal moment. Born and raised in Barrydale, she spoke of knowing the community intimately — and being known by it in return.

“I was born here in Barrydale. I took my first steps here. I know everyone in the community, and everyone knows me.”

Her journey through the project mirrored that of many of the young people involved. She began as a performer when the parade first started, later becoming one of Barrydale’s first women puppeteers. From there, she moved into scriptwriting, then assistant directing, before becoming director three years ago.

“So I’ve really grown with the parade,” she reflected, “from the beginning until this year.”

Many of the performers, she explained, had grown up within the project itself.

“Sixteen years ago, some of them were four or five years old,” Kouter said. “Today they are children, puppeteers, actors and senior performers. I’ve seen them grow up within the project.”

Animals as storytellers

The visual heart of Steek My Weg lay in its giant animal puppets — expressive, symbolic and unmistakably local.

Kouter pointed to the baboon mask as a familiar figure in the Karoo mountains.

“As you know, living here in the Karoo, near the mountains, we know baboons quite well,” she said. “They’re mischievous.”

One of her favourite puppets, a pig, stood out for its emotional detail.

“If you look at the expression on the pig’s face — the eyes — they tell you a story.”

The animals were not decorative elements, but carriers of meaning — reflecting life in the valley, the tensions between belonging and displacement, and the layered histories embedded in the landscape.

A tradition built over decades

The parade forms part of a long-standing tradition rooted in the work of Net vir Pret, officially established as an NGO in 2006 following the vision of founder Peter Takelo.

Originally created to provide safe, joyful after-school spaces for children, Net vir Pret has grown into a cornerstone of youth development in Barrydale and the surrounding farms along Route 62. A seven-year partnership with the Handspring Trust for Puppetry Arts has helped build local puppetry skills and gave rise to the annual parade, traditionally linked to the Day of Reconciliation. Deputy director Herman Witbooi spent time with the trust learning to build the puppets. Local artists taught the children how to mix colours and paint. Nawawie Matthews mentored and trained the team in set building

Today, the organisation works with approximately 500 children and young people each week, offering arts, crafts, music, dance, sport and leadership programmes aimed at breaking cycles of poverty, substance abuse and social exclusion.

Looking beyond this year

Reflecting on the scale and significance of the parade, Kouter said her vision extended beyond her own role.

“My vision is that when I’m not there anymore, someone will take over,” she said. “That this will carry on, even if I’m not around anymore.”

Supported by partners including the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape, Ukwanda Puppetry and Design Arts Collective, the National Arts Council, the National Lotteries Commission, Makwande Empowerment Trust, Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, the Department of culture and sport (Western Cape) as well as the Presidential Employment Stimulus Fund, Steek My Weg once again demonstrated the power of long-term, community-led creative work.

For one evening in December, what had been hidden behind the hill stepped fully into view — inviting everyone to see, to listen, and to remember.