Get into The Swing of Spring ...

The 1^st of September wel­comed us to first day of spring, but for those of us who were in Cape Town the weather didn't quite match up. So, if Spring hasn't quite "sprung" for you yet, here are  a few ideas to get you into the swing of it — we hope this helps in the pur­suit cel­eb­rat­ing the warmer weather we know will come ...

On Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September 2009 make you way to George on the Garden Route for the Outeniqua Country Hop Strawberry Festival. Starting at 13h00 on Friday after­noon and run­ning until 20h00 that even­ing and on Saturday from 10h00 to 18h00. Live enter­tain­ment will be on offer in the even­ings and the Cossack Stunt Academy will put on a fant­astic dis­play that also includes a fire dan­cing show ...

Celebrate spring out­doors at the golf day on the Three Chameleons short course (to book con­tact Jeff on +27 (0)44 876‑9988). One of the great things about spring is that straw­ber­ries are back in sea­son — come along and feast on these juicy ripe ber­ries or take part in the straw­berry and pie eat­ing com­pet­i­tions. Every mem­ber of your fam­ily will have fun! The venue is the Redberry Farm in Geelhoutboom, George — for more inform­a­tion about the fest­ival you can con­tact Nadine on +27 (0)82 926‑5928

Jeffreys Bay hosts their annual Shell Festival from Tuesday 22 to Friday 25 September 2009. I’m sure every­one has one memory of vis­it­ing the beach when they were younger and col­lect­ing shells of any num­ber of shapes, col­ours and conditions.

Jeffreys Bay will be cel­eb­rat­ing all things "shell" in the Central Business District with crafts, food, expos, enter­tain­ment and activ­it­ies as well as com­pet­i­tions. Celebrate spring through this fest­ival by enjoy­ing the beauty shells have to offer. For more inform­a­tion con­tact Marie Du Toit on +27 (0)82 633‑3693

From Thursday 15 October to Thursday 22 October, Bloemfontein holds their annual Rose Festival, star­ted in 1976  in Bloemfontein, fondly known as the City of Roses. The Mimosa Malls plays host to the event where you will find a wide vari­ety of rose exhib­i­tions and will be able to wit­ness the Champion Rose Competition. This is also the pickup point for the bus tour of the com­pet­i­tions win­ning gar­dens. If you require more inform­a­tion please con­tact Merryl on +27 (0)82 416 7837.

The Western Cape is cel­eb­rat­ing spring in all corners. The Hermanus Flower and Eco Fair takes place from Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 September at the Fernkloof Nature Reserve and the star of the show will be the flower dis­play cre­ated by the mul­tiple gold win­ner for South Africa at the Chelsea Flower Show, Riaan Maritz and David Davidson.

Informative talks edu­cat­ing vis­it­ors to the import­ance of biod­iversity pre­ser­va­tion and our Fynbos hab­itat will be a focus of the show. South Africa is the only coun­try to house an entire floral king­dom and this king­dom is fyn­bos (thanks to South Africa — The Good News for that fact). Plenty of enter­tain­ment for chil­dren is planned which will allow you browse the botan­ical dis­play, pur­chase some of the plants for sale or indulge in the fant­astic eats that will be on offer. For more inform­a­tion you can tele­phone +27 (0)28 313‑0819.

The Darling Wild Flower Show takes place over the week­end of 19 and 20 September 2009. Presented by the Darling Wildflower Society since 1917, this is a stand­ard tra­di­tion — view stun­ning dis­plays of the most fra­gile and rare Darling wild­flowers to those more com­monly found. Food stalls to fix those hun­ger pangs and an exhib­i­tion tent with everything garden related are part an par­cel of this annual event. The show takes place at the Darling Club and if you require more inform­a­tion please tele­phone +27 (0)22 492 3361.

Spring fest­ivals and shows focus pre­dom­in­antly on flora and so those of you who are pas­sion­ate about fauna must be feel­ing a little left out ...

The Tulbagh Horse & Wildflower Show comes to your res­cue as the South African National Horse Championships are held here annu­ally with a high­light of the show being the wild flower exhib­i­tion. This exhib­i­tion is unique as it dis­plays the flowers as they would appear in their nat­ural state.

A Wine and beer garden, vari­ous exhib­i­tions and arts and crafts stalls will keep you enter­tained. This show takes place from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 September 2009 at the Tulbagh Show Grounds — for more inform­a­tion con­tact Elsa on +27 (0)23 230‑0189.

For more ideas on what to do this spring see Spring Festivals and Flowers Shows.

What other things will you are doing to get into the swing of spring?
We’d love to hear other ideas — please share with us by post­ing your com­ments and sug­ges­tions below.

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