South Africa Festivals & Events
Oh Yes, There Was Also a Horse Race Yesterday
The World Cup casts a long shadow over all the rest of sport - including yesterday’s Durban July, which SA Logue confesses to having forgot. Sorry, Durban. C’etait la faut des onze vieux hommes de la France.
The Durban July is the country’s premier horse race, more or less - though the folks over at Cape Town’s J&B Met might have a word to say about that - and was won by the favorite, a certain Eye of the Tiger, amidst much wearing of hats-and-not-much-else.
Follow the story: SABC News | News24 | IOL
Date: July 2nd, 2006 |
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First Cape Town Book Fair Coming Up!
Alert! South Africa’s long-awaited and much-deserved first international book fair kicks off this weekend, when the Cape Town Book Fair gets underway on Saturday.
The fair, presented in conjunction with the world’s largest book bonanza - the Frankfurt Buchmesse - will run from 17 to 22 June , at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The programme of events is enormous, and the entrance fee is only R30/day. For anyone interested in getting to know South African writing, this one’s unmissable.
Cape Town Book Fair Links:
Homepage: Cape Town Book Fair
Program: Book Fair Events (pdf …
Date: June 14th, 2006 |
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Good Food and Wine Show Occasion for Much Slurping, Burping this Weekend
Attention foodies! The Cape Gourmet Festival’s Good Food & Wine Show gets into the swing of things tonight at the Cape Town Convention Center, and will be the site of much burping and slurping throughout the weekend.
The zen master of world cooking, Anthony Worral Thompson (”He Who Never Loses on Ready, Steady Cook”) is undoubtedly the star of this year’s show. Other notables include James Martin, Alan Coxon, Steven Saunders, Brian Turner, Daniel Galmiche, and Cape Town’s own Jenny Morris, all of whom are …
Date: May 19th, 2006 |
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Catch the Last Day of the Olive Festival
There’s still one day to go for this year’s Riebeek Valley Olive Festival, happening in the twin Swartland towns of Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek West, just an hour and half drive from Cape Town on the N7 and R46 (maps).
No less than 21 local establishments - from olive and wine farms to restaurants and B&Bs - are participating, opening their doors not just to an olive- and olive oil-hungry public, but also to a bevy of producers of homemade jams, honeys, dried fruits and other edible goodies. There’s plenty to see and do - how about a gyrocopter …
Date: May 7th, 2006 |
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Snoop Dogg Inna House
Alert! According to the front page of today’s Cape Argus, Snoop Dogg has completed a fracas-free trip to Cape Town, and is warming up his vocal chords for tonight’s Premier Foods concert at the Green Point stadium. What a relief!
Follow the Snoop saga: IOL | News24 | SA BlogGreen Point stadium: map.
Word is, meanwhile, that Snoop will put on an extra show in Johannesburg this Wednesday, to make up for the one he missed last week. Hooray!
Date: May 1st, 2006 |
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Luminaries Light Up Book Fair
The Cape Town Book Fair is abuzz with excitement - its first day was a slick success, and there are three more days to come.
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Alexander McCall Smith
Nearly every South African writer of note - including many who live abroad - has put an appearance in (notable absence: JM Coetzee) - and several publishers have broken the bank to bring in international luminaries like Alexander McCall …
Date: June 17th, 2006 |
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Comrades Marathon Final Countdown Begins
It’s “t-minus two days ” for the Comrades Marathon, South Africa’s premier ultra-distance running event, which takes place between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on 16 June each year. (16 June, Youth Day, is a public holiday.)
The starting and finishing places alternate: this year, the Comrades is an “up” run, starting at sea level in Durban and finishing 650 meters higher, in Pietermaritzburg, about 90 kilometers away.
Date: June 14th, 2006 |
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Grahamstown Festival Booking Now Open
Tickets for South Africa’s marquee arts, theater and music festival, the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, are now on sale.
The Grahamstown Festival, as the event is known, takes place from 29 June - 8 July this year, and promises to turn the sleepy little hamlet that is its namesake into the usual bustling mini-metropolis of jazz, dancing, theatre and busking.
SA Blog promises more festival coverage in time to come, but meanwhile explore it - and book - with these links: National Arts Festival | Computicket | Grahamstown.co.za
Date: May 10th, 2006 |
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Arrested on Freedom Day
Question: How many holidays can one country have in a month? Answer: In South Africa, the average is about one a week in April (not including my birthday of course, April 17th) - leading to numerous four and five day weekends, holiday traffic and loads of concerts and music festivals.
Last Thursday, on Freedom Day - which commemorates the first democratic elections held in South Africa (on 27 April 1994) - my friends and I joined over eight thousand people at the People’s Celebration Concert at the Joburg stadium.
Date: May 2nd, 2006 |
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Snoop Dogg Misses His Flight
The “American hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg”, as he is known to the press in South Africa, spent last night in police custody in London, instead of on stage in Johannesburg, where he was due to perform as part of the Premier Foods People’s Concert.
(Only in South Africa could a name as dull as Premier Foods - makers of Snowflake Flour and Iwisa Mielie Meal! - be coupled with a name as redolent of itchy rebellion and straight up gangsta cool as Snoop’s, y’all. )
Date: April 28th, 2006 |
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