What does Cape Town have in store in November?

Oct 312011

Cape Town is building up to another amazing Summer season and this year events and interesting activities are hitting the streets early. With the weather slowly changing frowns into smiles, the social scene is getting ready for yet another incredible season. Some events to look out for are music concerts, film festivals, lifestyle festivals, comedy shows and world class theater productions.

Early in November we’re celebrating the approaching Summer with the likes of the FNB whisky Live Festival 2-4 November at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Showcasing more than 180 local and international whiskies, this is bound to impress connoisseur and novices alike. www.whiskylivefestival.co.za

An exhibition not to miss is the Zapiro: Jiving with Madiba Tribute at the South African Jewish Museum. Jonathan Shapiro and Nelson Mandela were both hugely influential in shaping the South Africa we know today. This exhibition is a celebration of these great men. The exhibition has been running since July and will close on the 27th of November. www.sajewishmuseum.co.za

The Labia Theater is an institution in Cape Town and hosts a myriad of film festivals, special screenings and cult classics. In celebration of “Old Hallows Eve” there is a horrorfest event running currently at the theater. The screenings include short films, a live movie soundtrack performance, new and rare Indies and movies you will not see on the big screen anywhere in SA. The fest runs until the 3rd of November so hurry out to www.horrorfest.info or www.labia.co.za for an alternative night at the movies.

Marc Lottering and David Kramer are two well known veterans in the entertainment industry. They have joined forces for the hilarious musical comedy, “Some Like it Vrot”, set in the Southern suburbs of Cape Town. This production will give you a witty insight into contemporary South African diversity. Running 14- 19 November at the Baxter Theater. www.baxter.co.za

From the Baxter to one of Cape Town’s other famous theaters, Artscape, we move onto a more serious production. “The Beneficiary”, showing from the 1st – 5th of November is the story of an elderly Xhosa man whose only son died and now finds himself thinking about a worthwhile successor. It is a story of tradition in the 21st century. www.artscape.co.za

On the music front, Cape Town has something for every kind of taste. The array of concerts and live shows include some local favourites as well as international acts.

Janet Jackson will be gracing our shores on the 15th of November wither her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal Tour. She will be performing songs from her 35 Number One Hits. The show is at the Grand Arena and tickets can be booked online at computicket. www.suninternational.com

Tori Amos will grace the same stage at the Grand Arena only two days later, moving fans with her painfully honest lyrics and touching song-writing. This performance is part of her Night of Hunters Tour and promises to show off her amazing voice and talent as a pianist. www.suninternational.com

Our own local diva, Karen Zoid is teaming up with the very talented Vusi Mahlasela. This unison of talent should produce a legendary show. Lucky for us, they are doing two performances at the Fugard Theater on the 11th and 12th of November and another bonus performance at the Oude Libertas Amphitheater in Stellenbosch on the 27th of November. www.thefugard.com / www.oudelibertas.co.za

Local electro duo, Goldfish, will be featuring a lot this Summer. On the 4th of November they are playing live at Trinity Super club with DJ’s Craig Da Sousa and Dino Moran. For more info in that event, visit www.trinitycapetown.co.za
From the 27th of November until March they will also be hosting the “Goldfish Submerged Sundays” with guest DJ’s each week at St Yves Beach Club. Join them for some new beats and guest vocalists from previous albums. www.styves.co.za

For a more chilled out experience, head out to Hartenberg Win e Estate on Saturdays for Summer Series of Tapas and Jazz. Among the artist performing this Summer are Manouch, Cape Dutch Connection and other top local musos. Entrance includes a bottle of wine. www.hartenbergestate.com

For lovers of Classical or Orchestral music, City Hall presents the Summer Celebration Concert on the 26th of November. The Cape Town Male Voice Choir under direction of Margaret Barlow and the Shoprite Jong Studentekoor under direction of Antoinette Blyth, will lift the roof with the help of internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Julianne Young. www.whatson.co.za

The Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Cape Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble as well as popular jazz band, MoJazz, will feature in the season finale of the Nederburg Concert Series on the 26th of November. Bring your own picnic hampers or pre-order a delectable platter from Nederburg. Please do not bring any wine as there will be Nederburg wines and soft drinks on sale. www.nederburg.co.za

This is only a few of the exciting things to do in November. For more events, please refer to the All About Cape Town touch screen kiosks located in selected hotels and backpackers around Cape Town.

FNB Whisky Live Festival 2010

Nov 012010

The world’s largest whiskey festival, the FNB Whisky Live Festival 2010, will be running in Cape Town at the CTICC from 3rd to the 5th November and Johannesburg at the Sandton Convention Centre from 10th to the 12th November.  Promising to be bigger and better with more to see, do, and taste than ever before, this year’s event is one not to be missed.

Indulge in whisky sampling at the Tasting Hall, where over 180 different whiskies will be on show.  The Macallan Maturation Zone and Glen Grant Distillation Zone will be offering in depth educational tours and workshops, where one can learn the finer details of what goes into the whiskey manufacture process.  Schweppes in collaboration with the Liquid Chefs will be offering the hands on Art of Whisky Cocktail Making workshops, where you can learn how to make a variety of stylish and sophisticated whisky cocktails. The Lexus Whisky Lifestyle Lounge provides the perfect forum for client entertainment in an exclusive lounge, offering dinner, whisky cocktails and exclusive tastings of ‘unusual whiskies’ conducted by a well-known whisky host.  And for those of you wishing to experience the ultimate in guided whiskey tours, there’s the Lexus Connoisseurs Experience, a personalised guided tour of the festival and ‘unique’ tastings followed by dinner in the Lexus Whisky Lifestyle Lounge.  Pick ‘n Pay will be hosting a dedicated zone pairing fine foods with whiskies and Picardi Rebel will have an onsite retail store offering a great variety of whisky promotions.  Whether you are a connoisseur or completely new to whisky this festival promises to entertain, enthrall and broaden your knowledge on the exiting world of whisky!

Visit the FNB Whisky Live Festival website for more information.

New Allabout Cape Town

Oct 262010

Cape TownSome exciting news from the Allabout team.  Out with the old and in with the new, Allabout Cape Town has a brand new, sleek and optimized look.  New features include a light box slideshow, full Google Map integration, and a more attractive and easy to navigate interface.  We are launching the Cape Town site now, with Johannesburg, Durban and Birmingham to follow in the coming weeks.  So please, have a look around and let us know what you think or additional features you would like to see?  We welcome all suggestions and criticism, and look forward to continuing to provide you with all the information to fully enjoy your stay in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban or Birmingham!

U2 to Tour South Africa

Oct 222010

U2A little heads up, because this one promises to be a monster.  U2, arguably the biggest band in the world, are making their way to Cape Town and Johannesburg in February for the South African leg of their 360° Tour.  It has been twelve years since U2 last graced South Africa with their legendary live show in 1998, and by all accounts the stakes have been raised.  This being no ordinary concert, an extraordinary venue is called for to accommodate the thousands of fans who have been waiting with baited breath for the Irish rock icons to return to South Africa.  Enter the Cape Town Stadium and FNB Stadium Johannesburg, two state of the art stadiums that wowed the world during the FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals.  U2 will be making history as the first band to stage a live concert at both of these stadiums, and its hard to think of anyone more fitting for this honor.

For those of you who have been in a coma for the last thirty years, U2, hailing from Dublin, Ireland, are Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullin.  They have released 12 studio albums, ‘No Line on the Horizon’ being the latest, and have won 22 Grammy Awards.  The group has produced countless hit songs and anthems including the classics ‘With or Without You’, ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, ‘One’, ‘Beautiful Day’, ‘Vertigo’ and many more.  The band, especially lead singer Bono, are also renowned for their charity work and are involved in numerous social campaigns.

U2 will be playing at the FNB Stadium on the 13th February and Cape Town Stadium on the 18th February.Tickets for the 360° Tour go on sale through Computicket on Saturday 23 October.  Ticket prices start at R161 and go all the way up to R2568 for the best seats in the house.  Book early and avoid disappointment!

Writing’s on the Wall

Oct 132010

What does Cape Town have in common with New York, Sao Paulo, Berlin, London and Paris?  It may not appear as the obvious answer at first, but Cape Town joins these other cities as one of the world’s top destinations when it comes to graffiti, or street art, as is fast becoming the preferred term. Traversing simple acts of vandalism and maturing into a fully fledged art form, street art is conscious of itself and its strength to communicate with people.  For this reason street art, perhaps more than any other form of art, carries strong social and political messages.  This is incredibly evident on the streets of Cape Town, which abound with striking pieces that are not only beautiful but also insightful and loaded with meaning.  From political icons such as Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko, heroes of the struggle against apartheid, to works that highlight issues of social injustices such as the abuse of women and the gap between the poor and rich – very real issues that South Africa is struggling to come to terms with – Cape Town’s street art gives a voice to the voiceless and a forum for authentic expression in the urban wilderness. Continue reading »

Loerie Awards 2010

Oct 012010

This weekend sees the Loerie Awards, South Africa’s biggest event in the world of advertising and media, roll into Cape Town.  First held in 1978 and now in its 32nd year, the 2010 Loerie Awards, dubbing itself ‘The biggest event of the year’, is looking to be bigger and bolder than ever before.  No longer content with a single award show, the Loerie Awards has stretched itself into a weekend festival from the 1st to the 3rd of October, encompassing all manner of events and activities across Cape Town. Continue reading »

Meeting Old Relatives at the Cradle of Humankind

Sep 072010

Mrs Ples, famous fossil discovered at Sterkfontein Caves

The famous 'Mrs Ples', a 2 million year old skull.

An hour’s drive from the bustling metropolis of Johannesburg one can find the Cradle of Humankind, a truly remarkable place that is sure to leave you dizzy trying to grasp the developments of life and our species on this planet.  Occupying 47 000 hectares of land and an official World Heritage Site since 1999, the Cradle of Humankind consists of 15 major fossil sites – sites where fossils of our ancestors have been discovered that date back over 3 million years!  The most famous of these sites, Sterkfontein Caves has produced over a third of early hominid fossils ever found.  Most scientists now agree that all humanity has a common heritage that begun in Africa, and nowhere else is this more evident than at the Cradle of Humankind.

Maropeng

Being such an important place not only to Johannesburg and South Africa, but to the entire world and everyone alive, the Cradle of Humankind has become a huge attraction to people from far and wide.  To this effort there has been a dual effort to add tourism infrastructure in the forms of exhibition and recreational facilities, hotels, and restaurants, while maintaining ongoing scientific explorations and conservation efforts.  This is evident in the Maropeng Visitor’s Centre, a highlight of any trip to the Cradle.  Maropeng, a Setswana term that literally means ‘returning to the place of origin’, is a state of the art exhibition centre that will take its visitors on a ride from the creation of the universe during the Big Bang 14 billion years ago all the way to the present.  On the way we stop and examine how the Earth came into being from a ball of burning gas 4.6 billion years ago and then move forward to 3.8 billion years ago when life first emerged on the planet.  Moving swiftly along, we find out how the earth has been rocked by 5 major extinctions, the last being only 65 million years ago when a meteor impact killed off the giant reptilian dinosaurs.

By all accounts nothing very exciting happened for the next 60 million years or so, the dinosaurs were dead and gone.  Larger, stronger and better adapted mammals developed and took their place.  Nothing exciting that is, until some primates began to shake things up.  This is where the Cradle of Humankind and Maropeng really come into their own.  From our 3 million old relative, Australopithicus Africanus, discovered in the Sterkfontein Caves, all the way to modern humans, Homo sapiens, that emerged only 200 000 years ago.  May seem like a long time, but in the grander scheme of things, as this brilliant exhibit demonstrates, it’s just a blink of the eye.  Maropeng, with its state of the art displays and unrivalled collection of human and early hominid fossils, tells the unbelievable story of humanities development and growth, development of language and technology.  Perhaps the greatest story ever told, and Maropeng does it amazingly.

Sterkfontein Caves, Cradle of Humankind

Sterkfontein Caves

From the riveting history lesson at Maropeng, one can visit Sterkfontein Caves for a more ‘in depth’ and close up look at where and how these amazing discoveries were made.  After learning about the famous fossils that came out of these caves and their historical significance, visitors can then take a tour of these magnificent caves.  Some of the more incredible finds here have been evidence of controlled fire that is 1 million years old as well as ‘Little Foot’, an almost complete Australopithicus Africanus skeleton that is over 3 million years old.

For more information check out Allabout’s listing or visit Maropeng’s website.

Orlando Towers: Johannesburg’s Playground for the Adrenaline Junkie

Sep 062010

The Orlando Towers, home to Johannesburgs most exciting vertical adventure centre.

The colourful Orlando Towers host Johannesburg's most exciting adventure centre!

Two weeks ago I reported how Cape Town’s Athlone Towers, the two enormous cooling towers of the decommissioned Athlone Power Station, met their demise in a spectacular controlled implosion.  The Athlone Towers however weren’t the only of their kind in South Africa.  In Soweto, South Africa’s most famous township based on the outskirts of Johannesburg, there is another famous pair of decommissioned cooling towers, the Orlando Towers.  Unlike their counterparts in Cape Town, the Orlando towers were not destined for destruction, but have come to serve another purpose entirely.  Instead, the disused towers were converted into a vertical adventure facility in 2007, the first of its kind in South Africa.

Vertical Adventure… What?

In 2001 rope access specialist Bob Wood was contracted for maintenance operations on the disused towers.  While performing this task, hoisted on a rope 100m above the ground and overlooking the vast metropolis of Johannesburg, Bob was struck by an idea.  Bob thought, as any sane person would, how awesome would it be to fall from here.  Or more precisely, to bungee jump, swing or abseil off these immense towers in the middle of Soweto.  Fast forward six years and Orland Towers, vertical adventure facility was born.

Bungee Jumping Orlando TowersSo what can one expect from this oversized playground for adrenaline junkies?  Well, first off to get to the top, where the thrills and fun begins, an external lift will take you up the side of the one tower.  This lift follows the concave structure of the tower, starting off leaning towards the tower, then straightening up, and then leaning towards the ground, 33 stories below, as it reaches the top.  After the lift stops you walk up a floating stairway to the jump platform as the city expands out far below you.  At this point the adrenaline is kicking in and nerves are on edge.  From here one has a choice between a number of extremely fun, albeit terrifying things to do.  For those wishing for a slower descent, abseiling down the tower is the way to go.  The abseil offers 40m drop before contact with the building, after which you can ‘moon jump’ the rest of the way.  For a much faster way down there’s the 100m bungee jump, off a suspension bridge suspended between the two towers.  Alternatively the power swing offers a pendulum style swing between the two cooling towers, guaranteed to take your breath away.  And if that’s not enough, how about trying the Abyss – the world’s first swing inside a cooling tower!

For more information on the Orlando Towers check out the Allabout listing or visit the Orlando Towers website.

Things to do in Cape Town: 5 Essentials

Sep 012010

Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa’s most prominent tourist destination is littered with things to do.  From eating at world-class restaurants, partying the night away at top-notch clubs or simply sipping cocktails while watching the sun set over pristine beaches and sparkling oceans.  From vibrant Long Street and trendy Green Point to Camp’s Bay and the Cape Peninsula, cosmopolitan Cape Town will entertain and enthrall all day and night long.  With so much on offer it’s difficult to narrow a list of things to do in Cape Town to just five essentials.  But, after much deliberating we have done just that.  So without hesitation, here are the five things to do in Cape Town before you leave.  Enjoy!

Continue reading »

Nando’s Comedy Festival hits Cape Town

Aug 302010

The 31st of August sees the start of Africa’s foremost and largest comedy festival.  Now in its 14th year, the annual Nando’s Comedy Festival is bringing a star-studded line up of international and local comedy heroes to our shores in what promises to be a fun-filled and side-splitting event.  Considered to be one of the top 5 comedy festivals the world, the Cape Town leg has been watched by over 150 000 audiences in its previous thirteen years, and if the list of comedians this year is anything to go by we are in for a treat yet again.  So who are these masters of laughter who will have Cape Town rolling in the aisles this year?  Well for starters there’s Jonathan Arons from USA, famous for his ‘trombone dancing’.  Also from America, comedian Bobby Lee shot to fame after being discovered by Pauly Shore and asked to open for him in Vegas.  From Australia, famed comedian Dave Thornton is sure to astound with his razor sharp wit, while British comedian Ava Vidal has been making waves ever since becoming the first female finalist in the BBC 3 New Comedy Awards in the very first year of her career.  Added to this international mix of superstars is local favourite Trevor Noah, who after just two years performing has shot to the top of the South African comedy circuit, and looks to hold his position there for years to come.  All this and more awaits at the Nando’s Comedy Festival this year.  Visit http://www.comedyfestival.co.za for more information.  As a little teaser, here’s Jonathan Arons doing his thing with the trombone:

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