A Long Lunch and Celebration in Fairtrade at the Bosman Family Vineyard

Harvest Festival

If you are look­ing for a fant­astic exper­i­ence on the week­end of 17 and 18 March 2012 why not take a drive to Wellington for their annual Wellington Harvest Festival. Purchase your access pass at your first port of call or at the Wellington Tourism Office. Your pass allows you free wine tast­ing at par­ti­cip­at­ing cel­lars oth­er­wise it is a pay-as-you-go system.

Wondering where your first stop should be, why not stop at the Bosman Family Vinerard as they have joined together with Fairtrade Label South Africa and hope to show vis­it­ors to the fest­ival the true mean­ing of Fairtrade. Lunch will be a deli­ciously long affair and you will find out all of the details below ...

Bosman Family Vineyards prom­ises a Celebration in Fairtrade at their Long Lunch dur­ing the annual Wellington Harvest Festival on 17 & 18 March 2012.  Kick off your work­ing shoes and enjoy a leis­urely, fest­ive sum­mer lunch set against the back­drop of eleg­ant Cape Dutch build­ings, spread­ing oaks and soar­ing moun­tains. Continued

Slow Food Flick, Pick & Mix — Photographs

Last week I had a fant­astic even­ing out at the Fugard Theatre in District 6, Cape Town. I atten­ded a screen­ing of the ori­ginal Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which was made in 1971. The even­ing was organ­ised by Slow Food Mother City and they had arranged a sweet mar­ket before the movie began.

Were we in for a treat, local pro­du­cers set up stalls to entices us at every corner. If you have a sweet tooth you would have been in heaven because this mar­ket offered you every treat ima­gin­able. From vanilla treats to macar­oons, raw chocol­ate to homemade ice-cream, chocol­ate brownies to lemon curd cup­cakes. The list goes on ... Included in our ticket price was R25 worth of vouch­ers to spend at the mar­ket, mine were gone almost instantly. The event was booked out and there was such a fest­ive atmo­sphere for the entire even­ing. I relived a part of my child­hood by open­ing up my ima­gin­a­tion and remind­ing myself it's ok to have sweet treats as your din­ner once in a while ... Continued

Christmas Markets in Cape Town 2011 – it's that time of year again

Christmas Markets

Markets in Cape Town are extremely pop­u­lar. On Saturdays in par­tic­u­lar, you have your pick of food mar­kets and craft mar­kets, as more and more of these  pop­u­lar ways to shop emerge to sat­isfy our grow­ing urge to buy local.

And at Christmas, if you're any­thing like me, then avoid­ing the annual shop­ping 'rush' that hap­pens without fail is a top pri­or­ity! Having the option of Christmas mar­kets, where you can pick up loc­ally made, ori­ginal and highly indi­vidual gifts (that aren't made in China), as well as local food items, means that Christmas might again acquire a sense of gentle rest, neigh­bour­li­ness and fest­iv­ity, rather than the angst-filled, queue hop­ping night­mare that it has become.

Here are the mar­kets you can still attend (for some, like Kamers vol Geskenke, and the Constantia Gift Fair have already passed us by): Continued

Events in July — Spring into the second half of 2011

Prawn & Jazz Festival

We are now offi­cially into the second half of 2011, you might be ask­ing your­self where has the time gone? But what you should be ask­ing your­self is what am I going to be doing with the rest of the year? How can I fill up my free time with things to do, what is hap­pen­ing around me? We're here to make the answers a little bit easier and we're giv­ing you a snip­pet of some of the fant­astic events that will be tak­ing place this July.

Don't let this month slip past you, because before you know it we'll be in 2012. Get rid of some of those winter blues and be a part of the magic that these events offer. You will find some­thing for every­one from sports enthu­si­asts, art lov­ers, food lov­ers, fam­il­ies, friends and more. Don't get left out in the cold... make sure you are there!

Continued

Events in June — don't give in to the winter blues

K&K Winterfest

We are head­ing into the middle of 2011 already and this time last year we were gear­ing up for the 2010 World Cup but don't worry if you're miss­ing that world cup fever — there is still ample fun to be had. This June South Africa is crammed full of excit­ing annual events and fest­ivals. You will be strug­gling to fit everything into your diary.

Don't let the winter weather give you the blues get out and about and have a little bit of fun. Spend some time with your fam­ily and friends and do some­thing a little bit dif­fer­ent. This may even give you some ideas of what to do dur­ing the  upcom­ing mid year school hol­i­days — use these events to plan a trip? But whatever the case with so much to offer you are spoilt for choice this June... Continued

Events in May — do something different

Mabalingwe MTB

If you are only just recov­er­ing from all the pub­lic hol­i­days and excite­ment of April but  you’re already itch­ing to get out and about this May then look no fur­ther as we have some won­der­ful sug­ges­tions of annual events and fest­ivals tak­ing place all over South Africa. If you are look­ing for some­thing you can just indulge on your­self or if you are look­ing for fam­ily events for every­one to enjoy then carry on reading.

Perhaps this is the time to start get­ting fit again before winter really sets in, so take part in any num­ber of the sport­ing events offered. Those of you who enjoy food and wine will not be dis­ap­poin­ted as there and fest­ivals to keep your bel­lies full and your taste buds scream­ing for more. Whatever you might be look­ing for we are here to help you with sug­ges­tions of what you can do to keep yourselves enter­tained this May… Continued

Events in April — enjoy the public holidays!

AfrikaBurn

This month we don’t just have one pub­lic hol­i­day – we have four com­ing up. It kicks off with Easter cel­eb­ra­tions and a long week­end thanks to Good Friday and Family Day, shortly there­after we will enjoy Freedom Day and less than a week later we cel­eb­rate Workers Day in May on a Sunday, which means we have Monday 2 May out of the office as well.

It seems all of the provinces in South Africa are mak­ing use of these long week­ends and are treat­ing us to some won­der­ful events of all vari­et­ies. It is now time to bring out your cal­en­dar and take note of these excit­ing things hap­pen­ing all around you! Don't for­get to share all of this with those friends and fam­ily who are spe­cial to you. Continued

Events in March — it's time to have a blast

Ebenezer Open Swim

March sees us to the end of the first quarter of 2011 and it has not slowed down, through­out South Africa you can take part in and attend a vari­ety of events and activ­it­ies to keep you enter­tained through­out the month.

Monday 21 March is also a pub­lic hol­i­day as we cel­eb­rate Human Rights Day. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was formed on this day in 1996, 35 years after the dev­ast­at­ing events in Sharpeville when demon­strat­ors were gunned down by police. The SAHRC pro­motes respect for human rights, mon­it­ors and assess the observ­ance of human rights in our coun­try as well many other things and this day com­mem­or­ates this spe­cial day in our his­tory. Continued

Events in February — Dates to diarise

Marula Festival

This month there is a flurry of activ­ity — from sport­ing events, har­vest fest­ivals, bridal shows and everything in between. Now is the time to sit down and dust off the old diary and make sure you diar­ise these import­ant dates.  You don’t want to be left in the dust cloud your friends cre­ate when they are off enjoy­ing themselves.

You won’t be able to have any excuses because we are let­ting you know what is hap­pen­ing where so that you can be there and take part if all of the fun. The organ­isers work hard to put on these great events and the events need your sup­port to keep hap­pen­ing every year! So what are you wait­ing for? Go out and enjoy your­self. Continued

Events in January — begin the year with a bang

Masters of Water

Another year has begun, another year to have fun! Some of you might already be get­ting itchy feet and wish to escape the office for another hol­i­day, but if you can’t make that hap­pen then why not get your­self to one of the many fant­astic events that are hap­pen­ing in South Africa this January.

Even though you might want to rest up and relax after a hec­tic fest­ive sea­son, event organ­isers around the coun­try are work­ing hard to make sure you enjoy yourselves at a vari­ety of events in the New Year. If you need to work off that Christmas belly that is rivalling Father Christmas there are a num­ber of sport­ing events to take part in. Get out and make the most of 2011… Continued

Events in December — the festive season is here

Carols by Candle Light

We’re in full swing it seems, full swing into the fest­ive sea­son that is. I’m sure for the month of December your cal­en­dar is filling up quickly as you cel­eb­rate with friends, fam­ily and col­leagues with Christmas parties and gen­eral hol­i­day cheer, how­ever, there are still a num­ber of fun fest­ivals and events tak­ing place in South Africa that you shouldn’t for­get about.

Take a break from the cham­pagne and mince pies and have a look and what else is going on around you. Bring your fam­ily and friends and have fun together, enjoy the hol­i­days and who knows you might just dis­cover a new hol­i­day tra­di­tion! Continued

Cape Town Military Tattoo

CT Military Tattoo

Please all spare me a thought this even­ing.  Id rather be on the couch watch­ing the DVD set of the 3^rd sea­son of Private Practice but instead I will be at the Cape Town Castle watch­ing the Cape Town Military Tattoo!  The last time I went to a Tattoo was about 30 years ago at the Kings Park Stadium in Durban.  My mother bundled my brother and I up in all sorts of warm wool­ies (not sure why, it was Durban after all) and off we went.  It just so hap­pens that my hus­band and his fam­ily used to watch the Tattoo whenever it was on in Durban, so he’s insisted we go to this one in Cape Town! Continued

Events in November — it's all about the outdoors and Christmas

Soweto Marathon

I’m not sure if you’re feel­ing it yet, but it seems that sum­mer is here for some of the coun­try and just about here in other parts. Summer brings with it hol­i­days, time on the beach, spe­cial moments with your fam­ily and gen­er­ally a great time.

This November the events tak­ing place all around the coun­try will not dis­ap­point. Those who are look­ing for ways to keep fit or get fit in time for sum­mer then be pre­pared as there are a host of sport­ing activ­it­ies to keep you act­ive all around South Africa. So dust off those run­ning shoes, shake out that towel and get your­self ready! Continued

Christmas Markets and Gift Fairs taking place throughout South Africa

Christmas Markets

A friend of mine in London recently updated her Facebook status and smugly announced that she’d bought and wrapped her Christmas presents.  Having lived in London for a sub­stan­tial amount of time myself I can see her wis­dom in being this organ­ised and with only ten weeks to go maybe I should fol­low suit!

There are a num­ber of lovely Christmas mar­kets tak­ing place through­out South Africa. Shopping for gifts at these mar­kets elim­in­ates the hor­ror that is Saturday after­noon mall shop­ping so read on for a bit of inspir­a­tion ... Continued

Johnny Clegg at Emmarentia Dam on 6 November — Book now!

Johnny Clegg

“Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza
Obani bengath­inta amab­hubesi?”

These open­ing lyr­ics to Johnny Clegg and Savuka’s song Impi evoke such happy feel­ings for me. Not only to a mul­ti­tude of memor­ies sweep into the fore­front of my mind, but it is such a power­ful song sung by such a favour­ite and won­der­ful South African artist.

Johnny Clegg is a legend in the South African music industry, and on Saturday 6 November he will be cel­eb­rat­ing his 30 years in the music industry with a con­cert at the Emmarentia Dam in Johannesburg. This is a once off event brought to you by 94.7 Highveld Stereo. Continued