The city will see its first mass busking event as local radio station Smile 90.4FM will be sending out 67 buskers to play 67 minutes of music in honour of Madiba at 67 locations around Cape Town.
Young and old, amateur and pro, famous and obscure, will be taking to the streets at 12pm on Mandela Day. The event will include some of Cape Town’s most-loved bands, such as Majozi and Michael Lowman.
All proceeds raised by the buskers will be donated to a city music development programme to enable children from under-resourced communities to access music tuition and musical instruments.
With his trademark Madiba dance moves, his love of the unifying force that is music and his outspoken support of the great value of musicians in our lives, the radio station felt the idea of 67 musicians bringing smiles to the faces of South Africans would be a positive and heart-warming celebration.
Programme director Clive Ridgeway said: “We love the concept of service here at Smile 90.4FM. Approaching what you do in a spirit of service elevates the simplest task into something beautiful and powerful. Music is, of course, the cornerstone of our business, making this Mandela Day project one that is very close to our hearts.”
Smile 90.4FM will be broadcasting a special 67-minute programme of music, interviews and archive audio.
For those wanting to catch Making Music for Madiba live, each participating busker can be identified by a Smile 90.4FM poster and bucket for collecting loose change.
Buskers can be found in many areas, such as the Waterfront, Gardens Centre, Howard Centre in Pinelands, Cape Gate, Burgundy Square in Milnerton, Observatory Hall Island, Ottery Hypermarket, Bergvliet, long tree café in Bergvliet, Farm Village in Noordhoek, Fish Hoek Main and Jan Marais Park in Stellenbosch.