September is almost here and the first month of Spring does not disappoint with all the amazing events lined up for everyone to enjoy! There is something for everyone to do, young and old.
Have a look and mark your favorite event in your diary.
Wolfkop Weekender: Power Flower Picnic
Wolfkop Weekender’s fourth edition of its Power Flower Picnic is an intimate gathering and music event that takes place deep within the Citrusdal Valley, past the orange groves and down by the river. The weekend seeks to combine the essence of a camping getaway with a grass-roots festival experience, featuring a curated music selection and wholesome food traders.
Venue: Wolfkop Camping Villages, Grootfontein Farm, Keerom St, Citrusdal
Time: Fri 4pm to Sun 6pm
Solo Exhibition by Kelly John Gough
ODA Fine Art Gallery hosts a solo exhibition by Kelly John Gough, entitled Against the Grain.
Gough explores the changed role of fine art at the beginning of the 21st century. Where visual arts had to create awareness and provoke critical thought during the 20th century, senses are being raped by a merciless stream of information through mass media at present. People now turn to the arts, specifically to the visual arts for aesthetics, relief and hope.
In true Franschhoek style, wine, refreshments and snacks are served to commemorate the opening.
Venue: ODA Gallery, 42 Huguenot St, Franschhoek
Time: Artist walkabout (24 Sep) 11am to 1.30pm | Mon to Sat 9am to 5.30pm | Sun 9am to 5pm
Cost: Free (RSVP via email to book spot at the opening)
Music Exchange 2017
Music Exchange is a leading music conference, now in its 7th year, where guests engage, learn and share with international and local songwriters and producers over 2 days about the business of music in a series of masterclasses and workshops.
The event offers skills development, mentorship, showcase/demo opportunities, and collaboration opportunities. Over 250 industry professionals are invited from Africa and abroad as panelists and key-note speakers. Guests meet an array of international artists, like Mos Def, Trevor Jones, Bryan Michael Cox, as well as local artists, such as Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, RJ Benjamin, AKA, Tamara Dey and Ziyon. This year’s speakers include Anton Groenewald, Christopher De Vries, Lonwabo “Lobs” Marele, Warren Kirkland, Shaun Johannes and Maya Spector.
Music Exhange is an entertainment, social media entrepreneurship hub that attracts local and global entertainment industry thought leaders, builds partnerships, and supports job creation and economic development in Africa and abroad.
Venue: Academy of Sound Engineering, De Roos St, Zonnebloem, Cape Town
Time: Sat 9am to Sun 6pm
Cost: R250 – R400
Group Art Exhibition at Artvark
25 August 2017 to 8 October 2017
Artvark Gallery presents a group mixed media exhibition, entitled Droogte Drought Imbalela Isomiso Komelelo Dyandza Gomelelo Komelelo Komello Somiso Khuru, featuring opening speaker Gwen Meyer. A series of poetry readings by well known local poets follow the opening speech.
Drought and extreme weather are the new normal part of climate change in this new planetary epoch now called the Anthropocene. The scale and far-reaching consequences of the current drought in South Africa are hard to imagine. This exhibition explores how art can be a tool to explore some of the complexities of these new planetary realities, such as drought. With work from over 35 artists, this exhibition has a particularly South African approach.
Participating artists include Karin Daymond, Lien Botha, Gerald Tabata, Frans Mulder and more.
Venue: Artvark Gallery, 48 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Time: Opening night 7pm to 10pm | Mon to Sun 9am to 6pm
Cost: Free
Maya Spector
5 to 5 September 2017
Jazz songstress Maya Spector is playing at Café Roux. She will be sharing some of her original soul, jazz, pop, and latin inspired compositions.
Joining her on stage will be a backing trio made up of award winning musicians: Ramon Alexander (keys), Annemie Nel (drums), Andre Webb (bass) and Angelo Syster (guitar).
“Spector’s voice is pure honey, with the darkness as well as sweetness that implies, and she tells her stories convincingly.” – Gwen Ansell, Business Day Live.
Venue: Café Roux, 74 Shortmarket St, Cape Town
Time: 8:30pm
Cost: R120
Northern Lights – VOX Cape Town
1 to 2 September 2017
VOX Cape Town presents Northern Lights – A Baltic Voyage, a musical voyage of light and sound set to the mystical Northern Lights. This is the third instalment of VOX’s New Soundscapes series – immersive concerts designed to expose Cape Town’s audiences to fresh choral sounds.
The evening’s programme features a smorgasbord of music by contemporary composers from the Baltic region, including Arvo Pärt (Estonia), Ola Gjeilo (Norway), Henryk Górecki (Poland), Igor Stravinsky (Russia), Ēriks Ešenvalds (Latvia) and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (Finland). The performance also features special guests Matthew Golesworthy (organ) and Ariella Caira (cello).
Venue: St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Somerset Rd, CBD, Cape Town
Time: 7.30pm for 8pm
Cost: R160 | Concessions R120 (bookings via email)
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017
1 May 2017 to 30 September 2017
The UPYLondon Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 exhibition is on again at the Chavonnes Battery Museum. The Underwater Photographer of the Year is a London-based annual competition that seeks to celebrate photographs that are captured beneath the surface of the sea, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools. Finalists were selected from 20 countries including South Africa, Mexico, Finland, Indonesia, Egypt, Sudan, Norway, Canada, France, Italy and the UK. After viewing, guests can then step below sea-level, amidst 18th Century ruins, and learn the story of the “Cape of Storms”.
There is a National Sea and Rescue Institute (NSRI) kiddie’s colour-in table, coffee table books and free Wi-Fi.
Venue: Chavonnes Battery Museum, Clock Tower Precinct, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Time: Fri to Mon 9am to 7pm | Tue to Thurs 9am to 4pm
Cost: R100 | Wild Card/Red Bus R70 | Seniors/Students R50 | U16s free
Cableway Kidz Season
1 May 2017 to 30 September 2017
The Cableway Kidz Season offers a special, where two children ride free with an adult who has purchased a return ticket. Children enjoy a day of “fun, food and natural beauty” atop Table Mountain, as well as participating in a kiddies’ treasure hunt. As a part of the Kidz Season experience, all children receive a treasure hunt map, as well as a sweet treat when they hand in their voucher at both the Shop at the Top and the Cafe.
This offer runs from 1 May to 30 September and is valid on weekends, public holidays, and during the June and July school holidays. Only children under the age of 18 ride free. The Cableway is closed for annual maintenance from 24 July to 6 August 2017 and the Kidz Season special is not available during this time.
Venue: Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Table Mountain National Park, Tafelberg Rd, Gardens, Cape Town
Time: 8.30am to 5pm
Cost: Adult + 2 U18s R255
King Kong
25 July 2017 to 2 September 2017
Eric Abraham presents a brand new Fugard Theatre Production of King Kong – The original iconic South African musical.
King Kong was a landmark South African musical first presented in 1956. The musical portrays the life and times of a heavyweight boxer Ezekiel Dlamini, known as `King Kong` who lived in Soweto.
“The end result is not only an immaculately staged piece of theatre, but also a tribute to South Africa’s performance arts legacy.” – Read Siya Mahomba’s review of King Kong.
Venue: The Fugard Theatre, Cnr Caledon & Lower Buitenkant St, Cape Town
Time: Tues to Fri 8pm | Sat 4pm & 8pm
Cost: R130 to R280
Guise Of Reality at Salon 91
2 August 2017 to 13 September 2017
Salon 91 presents a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Zarah Cassim, The Guise of Reality.
Cassim’s forthcoming exhibition develops her theme of encounters with perception by evoking pictorial spaces derived from natural landscapes. The artifice of these spaces is foregrounded in her dissolving treatment of the medium. Oil paint is applied, sponged away, wiped and diluted with solvent such that the forms she attempts to describe become ever more dreamlike and inaccessible. Her process engages the theme of rebellion. The exact nature of the rebellion is open-ended: a rebellion against an inherited system of seeing, the tradition of landscape painting or the painted surface itself.
Venue: Salon Ninety One, 91 Kloof St, Gardens, Cape Town
Time: Tues to Fri 10am to 6pm | Sat 10am to 2pm
Cost: Free
Dalin Oliver – Face for Radio
22 August 2017 to 9 September 2017
Teacher turned Comedian, Dalin Oliver, presents his new stand-up comedy show Face for Radio. He is back with a few more lessons following the sold out success of his debut one man show, I Came, I Taught, I Left. 10 years after matriculating, Oliver is struggling to adapt to the concept of “adulting” – no-one warned him about it.
“The familiar school events are made all the more realistic by Oliver’s colourful viewpoint, which emphasises all the myriad frustrations of trying to be a teacher in South Africa today.” Read Samantha Orange’s review of Dalin Oliver.
Venue: Baxter Theatre, Main Rd, Rondebosch, Cape Town
Time: Tue to Sat 8.30pm | Sat again at 5pm
Cost: Tue to Thurs R100 | Fri and Sat R120
Cinematic Motion – Masque Theatre
23 August 2017 to 2 September 2017
The Waterfront Theatre College presents their new dance production, Cinematic Motion, at the Masque Theatre. Inspired by Hollywood Motion Pictures, the show is a physical compilation of favourite movie moments.
Cinematic Motion features varied choreography by Shona Brabant, William Jones, Marguerite Jones, James Bradley, Simone Marshall and Brigitte Reeve-Taylor, and includes a large ensemble company of dancers. In addition to highlighting the best of the college’s dance faculty, the production is also a fundraiser for the WTS Bursary Fund which supports the future generation of young artists who may not have the resources to access further training.
Venue: Masque Theatre, 37 Main Rd, Muizenberg, Cape Town
Time: 8pm | Sat again at 3.30pm
Cost: R130
25 LIVE – a night at the circus
30 August 2017 to 1 September 2017
Zip Zap Circus School team up with rock band the Parlotones to present a fundraising show, 25 Live – a night at the circus. They celebrate 25 years of “Zip Zap – Inspiring Kids For Life”. Seven years after their successful collaboration on Art of Rock, they reunite to once again perform a mix of aerial and acrobatic mastery set to the indie rock band’s music.
Funds are being raised in aid of the Zip Zap Academy. New premises in Salt River offer the much needed space to allow more children to benefit from the circus absolutely free of charge. 25 Live is directed by the combined talents of Brent van Rensburg (Zip Zap co-founder) and Kahn Morbee (Parlotones).
Venue: Artscape Opera House, D.F. Malan St, Foreshore, Cape Town
Time: 7.30pm to 9pm
Cost: R250 – R1000
A Handful of Keys
30 August 2017 to 8 October 2017
Pieter Toerien Productions presents another installment of A Handful of Keys, directed and created by Ian von Memerty. The performance unravels as a constant surprise with “devastating wit and musical mastery” – from piano pyrotechnics to inspiring inventiveness. For the first time since the show’s launch in 1994, there are three keyboards and three pianists on stage – Roelof Colyn, 19-year old James Smith and a special guest.
Audiences are entertained with highlights such as “The Complete History of The Broadway Musical in 12 Minutes”, Liberace, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Funeral for A Friend and the SA Medley, as well as new material.
“The impersonations are hysterically funny, and bring life to iconic pianists in a wonderfully light-hearted manner that still shows a deep veneration for the instrument and its masters.” Read Rory Appleton’s review of A Handful of Keys.
Venue: Theatre on The Bay, 1 Link St, Camps Bay, Cape Town
Time: Tues to Sat 8pm | Sat also at 5pm | Sun 3pm
Cost: R100 – R180
Cape Homemakers Expo 2017
31 August 2017 to 3 September 2017
The annual Cape Homemakers Expo returns with a range of products and professional services under one roof. This year’s theme is ‘A Tribute to Your Home’.
Highlights include the ‘tuis | home theatre’, a market and an interior design challenge. The Expo offers an opportunity for visitors to explore, consider and purchase all sort of home and garden items, as well as to take advantage of competitions, deals and special offers.
Venue: Cape Town International Convention Centre, Convention Square, 1 Lower Long St, Cape Town
Time: Thurs to Sat 10am to 8pm | Sun 10am to 6pm
Cost: R80 | Seniors R70 | U12s free
Enchanted Cirque Dinner Theatre
1 September 2017 to 15 October 2017
A new international cirque production, Enchanted, makes its way to Cape Town to bring audiences a dinner theatre experience that merges some of the world’s finest entertainment artists with a top South African creative team.
The show is hosted by local comedienne Mel Jones and Argentinian Pik Pokus and acts include crossbow contortionist and silk artist Orissa Kelly, cloud swing and hoop artist Tom McKinnon, laser and bubble magic man Thomas Favaro, a disco inspired roller skating pair, a knife throwing duo and more.
The show is performed in a 450-seater spiegeltent shipped directly from Belgium and constructed by renowned Belgian tent master Rik Klessens. Elements within include an interactive zone, VIP bars serving premium brands, an oyster and bubbly booth, an accessory store and “delicious fare”. After feasting on tapas platters and watching the two-hour show, the resident DJ takes over and the audience parties with the cast, late into the night.
Mention Whats On In Cape Town when booking tickets.
Venue: P3 parking area, Cape Town Stadium, Cnr Fritz Sonnenberg Rd & Granger Bay Blvd, Green Point, Cape Town
Time: Wed to Sat 8pm | Sat again at 3pm | Sun 5pm
Cost: R250 (bookings via phone)
