Courtney Pine and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse will headline the 16th Cape Town International Jazz Festival free community concert.
espAfrika’s annual Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) community concert, is set to be a vibrant mix of local and international artists.
On Wednesday, 25 March, multi-instrumentalist Courtney Pine (UK) will join South Africa’s jazz great, Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, on stage (from 5pm to 11pm) to entertain the crowds who will throng Greenmarket Square. Joining the illustrious pair for the event will be the winner of the popular local ‘Open Mic Jazz Vocal’ competition, Zoë Modiga, Cape Town’s very own pop group Beatenberg, as well as the All Star Band.
Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille said: “The festival has become one of the main events in the City's Calendar. It's a great opportunity to experience our rich diversity in the arts & music. I want to encourage everyone to take this opportunity to attend & share in this experience”.
Ensuring the event embraces as many people as possible and remains ‘Africa’s grandest gathering’ and is accessible to all is the reason CTIJF provides the community concert.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), a generous funder and supporter of the concert, will provide free train trips on selected main lines.
Mr Lucky Montana, Group CEO, PRASA: “PRASA provides free Metrorail services for communities in and around the Cape Metropole so they can take part in the free concert before the main festival. They join the many people who travel from every corner of the country on our Autopax buses and long distance rail services (Shosholoza Meyl) to attend the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) and, for more than a decade now, the response from revelers has been phenomenal. PRASA is therefore proud to be the official transport partner of the CTIJF.”
More, than a community concert, this free event has become as much a part of the fabric of the CTIJF as the Festival itself, forming part of the festival’s Sustainable Training and Development (T&D) programme. These workshops and programmes are sponsored by the City of Cape Town, the Department of Arts and Culture, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) through the South Atlantic Arts and Culture Trust, Schwepps, Independent Media, PRASA, CCID, Cape Town partnership in association with Heart104.9 FM, espAfrika will notify the public about road closures around Greenmarket Square well before the concert.
The following routes will operate free train services departing between 15H00 and 17h00 and returning from Cape Town at 23H30:
• Cape Town - Heathfield (Cape Flats)
• Cape Town - Khayelitsha via Kapteinsklip (Central Line)
• Cape Town - Bellville