The mother city’s premier arts event – Cape Town Festival 2007 – is set for March 3 to 24, and more than 100 000 arts lovers are expected to attend.
This three-week long “cultural expression by the people of Cape Town” boasts more than 140 shows to cater for the diverse audiences the city’s festival attracts.
 
Cape Town Festival (CTF) 2007 - the City’s eighth annual arts and culture festival – truly represents most of the arts genres within the contemporary arts and culture scene, with more than 45 unique productions of dance, theatre, classical and contemporary music, hip hop and choral music, poetry, magic and puppet theatre.
 
“The 2007 Festival Programme is the result of a collective effort from artists, traders, crafters, events organisers, technical suppliers, volunteers and equally important, our many sponsors and venue stakeholders. We are grateful to our sponsors and stakeholders who believe in the dream of establishing a Gateway to African Arts & Culture and for supporting the social imperative of realizing a culturally aware and understanding society,” says Festival CEO, Yusuf Ganief.
 
“This year we are again showcasing the talents and excellence of various cultures, both local and international, in our attempt to depict not only our uniqueness but also to highlight our common humanity through the arts,” Ganief said.
 
Chief Executive of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, Sheryl Ozinsky, says: “The Cape Town Festival is a brilliant performance stage for home-grown talent. It adds amazing worth to the already exceptional tourism experience our destination offers visitors and helps to boost Cape Town’s image as a Number One events destination.
 
“We know that when tourists consider visiting a city, they often find out which festivals are on in the destination during their time there.
A festival can quite easily do that final bit of convincing to ensure they book the trip. And when they decide to come to Cape Town, they can know they’ve made the right choice. Cape Town, without a doubt has a special kind of energy, a sought-after buzz and a beautiful, colourful character. Why else would it have a Festival named after itself?” says Ozinsky.
 
The highlights of CTF 2007 are set to delight even the most discerning art addicts and culture vultures and will include:
 
The Cape Town International Performing Arts Festival - a veritable feast of local and international drama, dance, and music productions – runs from 6 to 24 March at various venues including Artscape, the BaxterTheatre, Intimate Theatre, Joseph Stone Auditorium, Distrix Café, Manenberg Jazz Café, On Broadway, and arts venues in Durbanville.
 
The Cape Town Street Festival - incorporating Night Vision – is an exciting, day and night, multi-faceted and multi-dimensional arts event. Cape Town citizens will reclaim their city’s streets from 12noon to midnight on March 3 in Long Street, Greenmarket Square, Bokaap and other city streets. For the first time this year the Street Festival will include a day time segment to cater for families; the promotion of arts to youth, and create entrepreneurial and business opportunities for traders by day. Some 30 000 festival-goers are expected to cash-in on the extraordinary energy of this multi-dimensional festival event - dubbed as South Africa’s version of the Rio Carnival. Free to public
 
The Youth Festival – aiming to create more awareness of the arts among the youth and promoting cultural understanding – runs from March 5 to 9 in the city’s Company’s Garden Precinct and Iziko Museum venues.
 
The Cape Town International Short Film Festival – nightly screenings of SA and African short films at the V&A Waterfront’s Amphitheatre - runs from March 5 to 12. Free to public
 
Human Rights Day Concert – a treat of live entertainment celebrating the diversity of the mother city and South Africa with local and international musicians in concert on March 21 at the Company’s Garden. Free to public
 
The Visual Arts Festival – The works of several established artists will be exhibited during the festival. Ronald Harrison’s Black Christ and Albert Luthuli Series will be showcased at St Georges’s Cathedral, in the city, from March 6 to 24. An exhibition, featuring the artistic interpretations of FEST by 16 Western Cape artists including Beezy Bailey and Alchemy, and the Alfa Beta etc. exhibition of oil paintings by Theo Paul Vorster, will both run at the Rust & Vrede Gallery in Durbanville from March 14 to 24.
 
FEST Exhibition:
 
The word festival conjures up a plethora of associations and questions. Why do we feel the need to celebrate? What do we celebrate? How culture specific is our revelry? And above all what comprises a fest? Some 16 Western Cape artists were asked to create two works each as an artistic interpretation of fest. The abbreviation of the word festival to fest adds another dimension to the exhibition, influencing the artists’ individual interpretations.
Artists include:; Paul Birchall; Hardy Botha; Rikus Ferreira; Pierre Fouché; Lisa Grobler; Sandra Hanekom; Lize Hugo; Tina Jensen; Susan Kruger- Grundlingh; Hennie Meyer; Norman O’Flynn; Selwyn Pekeur; Robert Slingsby; Barbara Wildenboer; Judy Woodborne
Free to public
 
Jou Ma se Comedy – some of South Africa’s funniest stand-up comedians, including well known names like Kurt Schoonraad and Mel Miller, will entertain locals and internationals from 13 to 24 March at Manenberg Jazz café, V&A Waterfont.
 
Local goes Vocal – the festival’s platform for the mother tongue, where poets and musicians of all genres perform on one stage – runs at the Distrix Café, District Six, city on March 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24
 
The Hip Hop Festival – all the hottest hip-hop stars, both local and international, break dancers, spoken word and graffiti artists will be at a Hip Hop dance competition and workshops at UCT’s Sports Complex on Saturday March 24 and at the Grassy Park Library on March 25 for a graffiti competition on Sunday March 25.
 
The In Touch Community Festivals – Eight communities were chosen to host one-day community arts and culture festivals and the last two will take place in Ocean View on February 17 and Durbanville on February 24. Free public events.
 
For further media information please contact Yvette van Breda (021) 706 3484 or 082 465 6666 or email Yvette@netralink.com or the festival office on 021 465 9042
 
The Cape Town Festival programme is available on the website www.capetownfestival.co.za

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