Cape Town – It's that time of the year again when the world’s best jazz artists head to Cape Town for the International Jazz Festival.
The best part of this popular annual event is, of course, the pre-festival Free Community concert, with top local and international acts, right here in Cape Town.
The free festival takes place on Wednesday evening in Greenmarket Square with a stellar line-up of artists, including American girl group En Vogue, local superstars Mango Groove and VuDu, Moreira Chonguica from Mozambique, and school bands from the Training and Development Programmes and other big acts.
Festival director Billy Domingo said the unique concert is their way of saying thank you to the people of Cape Town, and to give them a taste of world-class performances.
The free open-air event draws thousands of music lovers into the city each year, come rain or shine.
“We always want to give Cape Town at least one of the international acts,” he said, referring to American R&B/ pop vocal group, En Vogue, known for their hit single Don’t Let Go from the movie Set It Off.
“The reason we do the show annually, is so people do not have to look through the fences when there are music events going on. Not everyone has enough money to afford a ticket for the big shows that Cape Town produces,” he said.
Domingo did not want to disclose the cost of hosting the free concert, but said it involved a substantial amount of money.
“The whole thing about the Cape Town International Jazz Festival is that it has always been a legacy programme and if it was just to make money, we would never have succeeded. It’s about giving something back to the people.”
The main event is being held at the Convention Centre this weekend, March 31 and April 1.
A day pass costs R690 per person.