October Events and Festivals

To cel­eb­rate the full effect of Spring here are a few sug­ges­tions of pop­u­lar annual events and fest­ivals hap­pen­ing around South Africa in October.

Western Cape Events
Make your way to the charm­ing town of Standford for the Glendower Bird Fair from the 1^st to the 4^th October. Again sponsored by Glendower Whisky and Overstrand Destination Marketing, the Glendower Bird Fair Now in its 5^th year with the focus being more bird related with addi­tional fest­iv­it­ies arranged by Stanford Tourism. Outstanding speak­ers will enrich and edu­cate with their know­ledge and expert­ise, spe­cial out­ings are also planned and guided bird watch­ing walks through Stanford are offered ... See more at Stanford Glendower Bird Fair and to book your stay see Stanford Accommodation.

The Durbanville Wine Valley will once again throw open their farms to enthu­si­asts of the good life from the 2^nd to the 4^th October. This Season prom­ises to be a feast for the senses with activ­it­ies ran­ging from vine­yard walks and cel­lar tours, pic­nics, arts, crafts, music and spe­cial lunches and din­ners. See Season of Sauvignon 2009 for more info. Still in Durbanville Bloemendal Wine Estate cel­eb­rates the annual Seasons of Sauvignon with its Blanc and Blues Festival. Bloemendal will be releas­ing its 2009 Suider Terras Sauvignon Blanc with a great line-up of local bands. To book your stay in the Durbanville Valley see Durbanville Accommodation.

In the Cape Winelands the Cape Outdoor Adventure & Travel Expo takes place in Franschhoek from 2^nd to 4^th, and at Franschhoek Uncorked (10 — 11 October) there is some­thing for every­one with: cel­lar– and vine­yard tours, barrel-tastings, scrump­tious food and wine pair­ings, art exhib­i­tions, flower-bulb mar­kets, jazz and blues bands, live music extra­vag­an­zas and much more. Visit 10 of Franschhoek's most spec­tac­u­lar gar­dens as they burst into bloom this Summer — see Franschhoek Open Garden Festival (25 — 26 October). To plan your stay see Franschhoek Accommodation.

Not to be missed is "Rocking the Dasies" in Darling. Now in its fourth year, Rocking the Daisies is the fast­est grow­ing eco-friendly music and life­style fest­ival in South Africa. Taking place from 9 to 11 October on Cloof Wine Estate in the vil­lage of Darling, the fest­ival will once again offer the best in live enter­tain­ment, life­style exhib­i­tions and gour­met food.

In the Breede River Valley the pop­u­lar Robertson Wine on the River (16 — 18 October) you get to enjoy live music, browse through the arts & crafts lane, enjoy lunch in this beau­ti­ful set­ting or sample any of our local pro­duce on show. Wine sold on site at cel­lar price and there is plenty for the kids to do.

Eastern Cape Events
At the Addo Rose & Garden Show (9 — 11 October) you will be amazed by the spec­tac­u­lar dis­plays incor­por­at­ing 25 000 roses! Enjoy an excit­ing new pro­gram of garden tours, music and fun demon­stra­tions with flowers and food. Browse among farm stalls for fresh pro­duce selling everything from kudu salami to straw­ber­ries and cream. Link up with friends for a mem­or­able day in the coun­try where you can chill out under trees with a beer or cup of tea while listen­ing to Jazz. (See Addo Accommodation to book your stay).

The Bedford Garden Festival (23 — 25 October) offers vis­it­ors excep­tional oppor­tun­it­ies to see vari­ous botan­ical vari­et­ies at their peak as well as meet­ing a host of friendly folk and fas­cin­at­ing char­ac­ters. Spring comes early to this area of the Eastern Cape and October is the prime month for view­ing the unique land­scap­ing and the wonderfully-picturesque set­tings of the extens­ive farm and town gar­dens. Of par­tic­u­lar interest to avid garden­ers are the diverse plant­ings, both usual and unusual, that give each garden its own spe­cial characteristics.

Make your way to Port Elizabeth if its art you are inter­ested in. The Collective Graduate Exhibition and Fashion Show (9 — 16 October) will be show­cas­ing an enga­ging col­lec­tion for local and inter­na­tional col­lect­ors, design agen­cies, pho­to­graph­ers and fash­ion pro­fes­sion­als to catch fresh emer­ging tal­ent from the innov­at­ive NMMU Applied Design depart­ment, headed by Bruce Cadle. Here you will find tal­ent at the cre­at­ive fron­tier of pho­to­graphy graphic design, fash­ion, tex­tiles and interior design on exhib­i­tion in Port Elizabeth.

The exhib­i­tion opens on Friday 9 October at 18h00 at the North Campus Art & Design build­ing (fol­low sign­posts from the entrance in Admiralty Way) and there is no cover charge to attend. It is how­ever recom­men­ded that you book tick­ets in advance (at Computicket) for the Collective Graduate Fashion show to be held that even­ing at 20h00 at the Goldfields Auditorium, North Campus. Tickets are R85 per person.

KwaZulu Natal Events
Highlights on the KwaZulu Natal events cal­en­dar in October include the International Poetry Festival (see our pre­vi­ous art­icle at International Poetry Festival in Durban). From the 5 — 9^th October thirty poets from twelve dif­fer­ent coun­tries will par­ti­cip­ate in the 13^th Poetry Africa inter­na­tional poetry fest­ival which takes place in Durban, with a spe­cial cel­eb­rat­ory event in Johannesburg.

The extens­ive week-long Durban pro­gramme includes per­form­ances, read­ings and book-launches every even­ing at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, University of KwaZulu-Natal with a fest­ival finale at the BAT Centre.

Gauteng Events
At the Soweto Food Festival (1 — 4 October) you can hob-nob with the glit­ter­ati, enjoy food, beer, wine and whis­key tast­ings and dis­cover what you’ve been miss­ing in Soweto. Key play­ers in the food industry, upcom­ing chefs and vet­eran ‘food­ies’ will all be on hand to share inform­a­tion and tips about where the world of fine cuisine is headed next.

Take to the Newtown Cultural Precinct and par­ti­cip­ate in the Newtown Diwali Festival (3 October). A wide array of fun activ­it­ies is on offer ran­ging from children’s art work­shops, dance work­shops, an eso­teric fair, a tex­tile and crafts fair, fash­ion shows, retail and food stores and a dazzling enter­tain­ment line-up which cul­min­ated in an exquis­ite fire­works dis­play. Hosted by the City of Johannesburg, Newtown Diwali Festival has become an integ­ral inclu­sion to the City’s cul­tural calendar.

Head to Emmarentia Dam on 3^rd October for "Rocking the Gardens". Rocking the Daisies in part­ner­ship with Oppikoppi, will be gra­cing the shores (fig­ur­at­ively speak­ing) of Joburg’s widely enjoyed Emmarentia Dam. The one day event, Rocking the Gardens, will take place on Saturday 3 October and will host a selec­tion of South Africa's hot­test bands and enter­tain­ers' cus­tom to the young yet incred­ibly pro­gress­ive fest­ival. Other events not to be missed in Gauteng include the Good Food & Wine Show and the Soweto Mushroom Festival.

Free State Events
Head to Bloemfontein for the 10-day Mangaung African Cultural Festival which show­cases the cream of African and inter­na­tional tal­ent. The Makufe Festival fea­tures jazz, gos­pel, kwaito, hip-hop, R&B, rock and clas­sical music, as well as dance, drama, cab­aret, musical theatre, poetry, fine art and tra­di­tional arts and crafts. First held in 1997 before an audi­ence of 30 000, Macufe now attracts over 140 000 people from South Africa, Africa and the world.

The "City of Roses" presents the Bloemfontein Rose Festival (15 — 22 October). Among the events will be a Champion Rose Competition, exhib­i­tions of wide vari­et­ies of roses, and a bus tour to all the rose competition's win­ning gar­dens. A Miss Rosebud Competition will also be held and there will be many other attrac­tions. (To book your stay in Bloem see Bloemfontein Accommodation).

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