Nightly screenings of South African and African short films will comprise the Cape Town International Short Film Festival, which runs at the V&A Waterfront’s Amphitheatre from 5 to 12 March. Entrance is free.
This is one of the highlights of the eighth annual Cape Town Festival 2007, the mother’s city’s premier arts and culture event (3 to 24 March). More than 100 000 arts lovers are expected to attend the three-week long festival.
Other highlights will include:
The Cape Town International Performing Arts Festival – a feast of local and international drama, dance, and music productions. It runs from 6 to 24 March at various venues including Artscape, Baxter, Intimate Theatre, Joseph Stone Auditorium, Distrix Cafe, Manenberg Jazz Cafe, On Broadway, and arts venues in Durbanville.
The Cape Town Street Festival – incorporating Night Vision – 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 3 March in Long Street, Greenmarket Square, Bokaap and other city streets. For the first time this year the Street Festival will include day time to cater for families and the promotion of arts to youth, as well as creating 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 which has been dubbed as South Africa’s version of the Rio Carnival. Free to public
The Youth Festival aims to create more awareness of the arts among the youth and promoting cultural understanding and runs from 5 to 9 March in the city’s Company’s Garden Precinct and Iziko Museum venues.
Human Rights Day Concert – a feast of live entertainment and a celebration of the City’s and South Africa’s diversity with local and international musicians in concert on 21 March at the Company’s Garden. Free to public
The Visual Arts Festival – two exhibitions of the works of established artists – Ronald Harrison – whose Black Christ and Albert Luthuli Series will be showcased at St Georges’s Cathedral, in the city, from 6 to 24 March and Tretchikoff, whose exhibition runs at Rust & Vrede in Durbanville from 14 to 24 March. 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 cafe, 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 Cafe, District Six, city on 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24 March.
The Hip Hop Festival – all the hottest hip-hop stars, both local and international, break dancers, spoken word and graffiti artists will perform in a concert at the City Hall on Saturday 23 March, and a Hip Hop dance competition on 24 March at UCT’s Sports Complex.
The In Touch Community Festivals – these one-day community arts and culture festivals will take place in Hanover Park and Atlantis on 10 February, Ocean View on 17 February and Durbanville on 24 February. Free public events.
For further media information please contact Yvette van Breda (021) 706 3484 or 082 465 6666 or email Yvette@netralink.com
The Cape Town Festival programme is available on the website www.capetownfestival.co.za.
