NEWS
RELEASE
25 February 2004
CAPE TOWN FESTIVAL DRESSES UP FOR 10 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY
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one
The Cape Town Festival
hosted a glittering Premiere event at the Cape Town International Convention
Centre yesterday evening, signifying the launch of this years’ festival
celebrations. As the Mother City’s foremost arts and culture showcase, the
festival caters to all the city’s residents and visitors alike.
In celebration of our 10th year of Democracy, prominent business and
City leaders turned out for this groundbreaking occasion. Chairperson of the
Cape Town Festival, Ryland Fisher, extended a warm welcome to all present and
opened the evening’s program with an appeal to all Capetonians to celebrate
the fifth year of the festivals’ existence with him. He reinforced the
festivals’ focal aim, which is to overcome cultural, religious and racial
intolerance, through a celebration of culture and creativity. He reminded the
attentive audience that the current festival grew out of the One City Many
Cultures initiative, launched during his tenure as editor of the Cape Times.
Mr Fisher said that he was glad to report that the festival now had a proper
Board in place, a new dynamic chief executive and a vision of establishing an
international cultural festival in our beautiful city over the next three years.
Invited guests were
drawn into a multi-sensory experience illustrating the journey that the festival
has traveled from its humble beginnings up until today, and were catapulted into
a future vision which will see its transformation into a truly African festival.
A riveting combination of audio-visual presentations and live entertainment
vividly projected this grand vision.
Master of Ceremonies, Kurt Schoonraad, better known as Cape Towns’ “king of
comedy” effortlessly eased the star-studded audience into the evening, amid
peals of laughter, with a flow of witty banter and (dare I say it?) funny jokes.
In
true Cape style, the acclaimed Ghoema Captains had feet tapping and heads
swaying to familiar tunes, followed by a vivacious dance performance by the
Vadhni Dance Academy, portraying freedom of
movement and transformation. As the all-male Manyanani dancers took to the stage
in their traditional Zulu outfits, the pulsating energy of Africa reverberated
through the venue.
CAPE TOWN FESTIVAL DRESSES UP FOR
10 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY
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two
The
evenings’ activities built up to a resounding crescendo as the La Rosa Spanish
dancers burst onto the stage in a glorious fusion of contemporary flamenco and
African dance to the stirring melody of our national anthem. Evoking a reciprocal wave of national pride, mirrored in the
shining eyes of all present, this portrayal filled one with a sense of
unexplored possibilities. A truly grand vision. – an African fusion.
The evening culminated in a tongue-in-cheek invitation by newly-appointed CEO,
Yusuf Ganief, inviting all Capetonians to make their way to the Companys’
Garden on Sunday 21 March when the South African Chefs Association and local koe(k)sister
“tannies” and “tieties” combine their gastronomic talents to
construct the World’s Longest Koe(k)sister – all 30 metres of it! And
the question remains – is it a koeksister or is it a koe’sieste?
The Cape Town
Festival kicks off on 14 March and runs up until 22 March, offering a myriad
creative experiences for all. It’s your festival – come and enjoy!
For
festival information, visit www.capetownfestival.co.za
or buy the March edition of The Big Issue for your full festival program.
ENDS
Issued by
Rosemary Hare Public Relations cc
P
O Box 12521
MILL
STREET
8010
On behalf of
The City of Cape Town
Private
Bag X9181
CAPE
TOWN
8000
For further information, please contact Rebecca Atherstone at Rosemary Hare
Public Relations, on 021-465 1166 or 072 242 2685.
All information documents produced by Rosemary Hare Public Relations are
available on the website www.rosehare.co.za