Markets
Shongweni Farmers and Craft Market: (today) The famed market reopens today from 6.30am to 12.30pm with full Covid protocols. Fresh produce, crafts, ready-made foods, decor items, furniture, pet products, outdoor goods, nursery and jewellery as well as a nature trail and great view points to relax and take it all in. Call 031 777 4686
Golden Hours Market: (tomorrow) This relaxed family market at the Golden Hours School opens from 10am to 2pm. With all Covid-19 protocols in place and strict social distancing. Call Lyn on 083 262 3693.
Durban Vintage Market: Fun, quirky, vintage and retro apparel, decor and home-wares, toys and collectables on sale at the The Dolos, 5 Southampton Road, Point, on Saturday, February 27 from 10am to 3pm.
Concerts and Shows
Gateway: (today and tomorrow) Catch two of Durban’s best live acts while dining al fresco in the centre’s Palm Court restaurants this weekend. Today between 4pm and 7pm versatile Pablo de Barros, the “human jukebox” will share his smooth sounds, while tomorrow, from noon to 3pm, John Ellis will display his acoustic mastery on the Palm Court stage.
Puddles Cottage, Kamberg: (today and tomorrow) An outdoor Valentine’s concert for flute, trumpet, cello, sax and piano, in a spacious garden in the beautiful Midlands at 11am on both days, with Maggie Deppe (piano and oboe), Cathy Peacock (trumpet) Sabine Baird (flute and sax) and Nigel Fish (cello). Expect an eclectic programme of beautiful music – many with a love theme. Only 45 patrons permitted, and masks must be worn at all times. Tickets R120, which includes juice and snacks, from Agnes Jerman on 082 683 1583 or [email protected]
Music Revival: (today) Pianist Christopher Duigan online, livestreaming on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6pm. Duigan has performed more than 80 concerts over lockdown since March. Free, but donations are welcome. Email [email protected] or WhatsApp 083 417 4473. View at the Music Revival website www.musicrevival.co.za or on www.youtube.com/c/ChristopherDuigan.
Rhumbelow, Umbilo: (tomorrow) Catch Valentine’s Vibes starring Dawn Selby and Trevor Donjeany at 2pm in a casual afternoon of easy listening music performed in a non-show format. Doors open 90 minutes before the show and all Covid protocols upheld. Tickets R160 from Computicket or email Roland at [email protected]
Rhumbelow, Northlands: Barry Thomson and The Reals star in Cold Fact - Rodriguez looking at the unknown album from an unknown artist in 1970 that would become a huge phenomenon in South Africa, while Rodriguez himself was only made aware of his huge success decades later. February 20 at 7pm. Tickets R160/Northlands Bowling Club Members R130 from Computicket or email Roland at [email protected]
Art
KZNSA Gallery: Commune is a collective introspection from four KZN female artists - Vuyolwethu Ndakisa, Kylie Wentzel, Mandisa Buthelezi and Karla Nixon. Commune shares reflections on personal and collective space – memory and mind space –and the built/natural environment, and explores tensions between ideas of oppression and freedom, reality and escapism. Ends March 7.
Elizabeth Gordon Gallery: Exhibition of wildlife bronzes from one of South Africa’s most renowned sculptors, Dave Tomlinson, whose pieces are found in collections around the world, and whose real love is birds sculpted in bronze. Call 031 303 8133.
The Gallery, Ballito: A new art collective offers KZN artists and creatives a space to exhibit in. Local artist Jane Digby, who organised the pop-up art gallery and exhibition space over Christmas, has a second exhibition under way.
Stepping Stone Studios: In Finding Beauty, Inspiring Hope, artist Lauriana Glenny finds the beauty in ordinary surroundings, in the unexpected, the overlooked and mundane in an collection of landscapes undertaken since the lockdown started. To view the exhibition, call Glenny at 084 206 1345 or Greg at 083 946 9094.
Outdoors
Amblers Hiking Club: (tomorrow) At 2pm, hike the Winston Park circular trail from the end of Jan Smuts Avenue. View over the monastery and Pinetown. Fairly level hike along the edge of the escarpment. Call David on 072 615 0559.
Umgeni Bird Park: The park is open every day from 9am to 3pm, with all Covid-19 protocols in place and a limit of 250 visitors. The free-flight bird show is currently suspended, but the park is situated in 3.5ha of lush, tropical landscaping which houses an ever-increasing collection of more than 800 birds from 200 species. Some species are the only representatives of their kind in Africa. Adults R64, Children under 12 R42 and pensioners R36. Call 031 322 5750
Education
Crocworld: Tune into Facebook Live videos every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am. Crocworld’s bird curator, Ryne Ferguson, will stream on Tuesdays showcasing some of the centre’s stars like Booted eagles, Eurasian eagle owls, Harris hawks and jackal buzzards. Every Thursday at 11am, reptile curator Wade Kilian will give audiences insight into its creatures. Tune in via the Crocworld Conservation Centre Facebook page. The centre and café are open from 9am to 4.30pm. Call 039 976 1103.
Self Guided Tours: Walk the Historical Religious Buildings tour around Durban – known for its mixture of religions and cultures – taking in beautiful mosques, churches and temples in a three-hour walk. Download the app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from iTunes App Store or Google Play to your mobile phone or tablet. The app turns your mobile device into a personal tour guide and its built-in GPS navigation functions in guiding you.
Film
Alliance Française de Durban: The MyFrenchFilmFestival ends on Monday. The programme includes: Adolescentes by Sébastien Lifshitz, Camille by Boris Lojkine, Enormous by Sophie Letourneur, Felicita by Bruno Merle, Working Girls by Frédéric Fonteyne and Anne Paulicevich, Heroes Don’t Die by Aude Léa Rapin, Josep by Aurel, Just Kids by Christophe Blanc, You Deserve a Lover by Hafsia Herzi and Burning Ghost by Stéphane Batut. Three feature films are presented out of competition: Kuessipan by Myriam Verreault, Madame by Stéphane Riethauser and Orpheus by Jean Cocteau. See myfrenchfilmfestival.com
Alliance Française de Durban: February’s Cine Club features African Documentaries. On February 17 at 5.30pm catch Système K / System K by Renaud Barret from the DRC. Amid social and political chaos, an eclectic and bubbling street art scene is emerging. Underground visual artists, musicians and performers create out of nothing, using recycled objects and their own bodies to express their anger, but also their dreams for change. Despite the constant harassment of the authorities, the strong taboos of a traditional society and the personal struggles of the artists, the movement can no longer be stopped.
The Independent on Saturday