Festivals in the Cape

Cape Festivals

The amaz­ing vari­ety of fest­ivals in and around the Western Cape is evid­ence of the fact that Capetonians like to cel­eb­rate. Having recently exper­i­enced the epic, eco-friendly Rocking the Daisies music fest­ival in Darling, I can attest to the fact Cape Town’s party spirit is alive and well.

Capetonians don’t just rock ‘n roll how­ever. From the Whale Festival in Hermanus, cel­eb­rat­ing the town’s status as one of the whale watch­ing sites in the Southern Hemisphere, to the Cape Town International Jazz fest­ival, bring­ing the best per­formers from all over the globe, it seems every taste is accommodated.

The Cape Town International Comedy Festival is fast becom­ing a favour­ite on the cul­tural scene, with the Cape Town World Film Festival not far behind, provid­ing the oppor­tun­ity to see some of the top films and doc­u­ment­ar­ies from around the world. The Good Food and Wine Show takes place in the city itself, while fur­ther afield, the Bien Donne cheese and wine fest­ival takes place in the Franschhoek area, and the Riebeek Valley olive fest­ival has its home in the wide open spaces of the Swartland.

Cape Festivals

Given its loc­a­tion (and repu­ta­tion) in the heart of the Cape Winelands, it should be no sur­prise that Stellenbosch hosts sev­eral annual events cel­eb­rat­ing wine. Further up the coast, but still devoted to culin­ary delights, the town of Knysna, often voted South Africa’s favor­ite tour­ist des­tin­a­tion serves up a feast of oysters on the shores of the lagoon, dur­ing the annual Oyster Festival.

Inland of Knysna, at the his­toric town of Oudtshoorn, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees cel­eb­rates both Afrikaaner her­it­age, and the per­form­ing arts.

The SA Navy hosts an annual fest­ival cel­eb­rat­ing its his­tory and her­it­age at Simon’s Town. Parades, and per­form­ances by the Navy band, dog shows and artil­lery exer­cises are all on the pro­gramme. While in the town, plan a visit to the statue of Just Nuisance. The Great Dane who became a sym­bol for the Navy at Simons Town many years ago.

Cape Festivals

In recent years, sev­eral music fest­ivals have begun in the areas sur­round­ing Cape Town, with Rocking the Daisies at Darling, now in its third year, com­bin­ing the themes of music appre­ci­ation with liv­ing an eco friendly life­style. Ramfest at Worcester on the other hand focuses on altern­at­ive and rock music in South Africa, with many local bands fea­tured on the lineup.

Also in Darling is the Voorkamerfest. The brainchild of Darling’s most fam­ous and col­our­ful res­id­ent, Pieter Dirk Uys, this fest­ival takes vis­it­ors of a tour of voork­amers (front rooms) in the town, where unique theater pro­duc­tions are enacted. Fynbos is cel­eb­rated in Kleinmond, loc­ated between Gordon’s Bay and Hermanus, and Rooibos tea, another uniquely South African plant, is com­bined with good health at the Fitness Festival at Clanwilliam.

With all of these and many more fest­ivals and cel­eb­ra­tions on the go every year you are spoilt for choice and you are almost assured that at least one of these will coin­cide with your trip to the area, so set aside the time to visit!

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