Cape Town is preparing itself for one of the most stylish festivals, happening this weekend at the Castle of Good Hope.
This will be the second instalment of The Cape Cuisine, Style and Cultural Festival, started last year by businessman Kader Miller.
Mr Miller, as he is known, already has a few major community-orientated events under his belt, including the Brass band Pops, and the Marching Band Competition, to mention a few.
To me, what is significant about the festival this weekend is that it takes place over the same period that the Adderley Street Night Market used to, and in my opinion, it is the perfect replacement for it.
Miller’s festival offers a variety of food stalls with a strong focus on Cape Malay dite.
The sad news for food vendors is that if you are thinking of hiring a stall, it’s far too late. Due to last year’s success, the food stalls sold out in a jiffy.
EXCITING: Mense make a day of it at the famous Castle
“The festival caters to all and strongly focuses on empowering women, want meeste van die local designers wie se klere op sale is by die festival are women from the Cape Town community,” explains Miller.
The good news is that there is still some space available for designers to come and showcase and sell their fashionable Kaapstad clothing.
GOODS: A variety of clothing available
Miller adds: “One of the biggest highlights of the previous festival of 2016 is that the clientele who attended was a diverse blend of people from all walks of life, and what was outstanding was how well our people traded with the tourists. This is what stood out for me and I hope we can continue with this kind of positive attitude into this year’s festival.”
Another big draw card at these type of festivals is of course the geharde entertainment.
Back in the day when I used to perform at the night markets, I remember the names of the artists being advertised in newspapers, and mense could choose ahead of time which nights they would be attending to see the singers perform under the stars, for free of course.
This was gevaarlik and exciting and Miller is sticking to that formula, making it quite clear that he is in no way trying to reinvent the wheel.
So this weekend, people can look forward to performances from marimba bands, two local jazz bands, a few Malay choirs and yes, you guessed it, the Kaapse klopse will be setting the castle alight with a lekker jol.
There’s a long list of artists, and their names are being revealed via social media platforms tomorrow.
I am sure that this event will be around for years to come, it is one where jobs are being created across the board, from the gallie selling samoosas, to the clothing, and even the local entertainers.
Mr Miller says his objective was to make this a festival for all - whether you are bruin, swart, rooi, wit, Chinese, Indian, Jewish, Christian or Muslim.
There will be something duidelik for each of you.
The festival kicks off on Sunday, 17 December, and runs until 23 December.
With regards to the entry fee, between 9am and 5pm normal Castle rates will apply, i.e. R50 for adults and R25 for kids.
From 5pm until 11pm, the entry fee is R30 for adults and R10 for kids.
For more information, you can contact Mr Miller on 082 882 8577.
With that said, remember that without our support, this event cannot be successful, so let us get down to the Castle in our numbers and show our support to alles wat local is, want ons wiet mos dat local is lekke.