New7Wonders

Cape Town has been fortunate to find that not one, but two of its !conic landmarks have been nominated in the New7Wonders of Nature campaign.

Table Mountain  and the Cape of Good Hope, alongside the Kruger National Park and the Vredefort Crater, have been nominated by users around the world to be voted as one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

Table Mountain is one of South Africa's most popular tourist destinations.

Table Mountain, a flat-topped mountain, forms a prominent landmark which overlooks the city. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park, which stretches all the way to Cape Point.

Currently ranked 228 on the list... this prominent landmark needs your vote if it wishes to make it into the top 77 in order to form part of the next phase of the process.

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. As one of the great capes of the South Atlantic Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope has been of special significance to sailors for many years and is widely referred to by them simply as "The Cape."

Currently ranked 78, you have done well enough thus far, but continue to post in your votes in order to ensure that this landmark moves up to 77 and further.

Voting for the nominees will continue through till 7 July 2009. Then the New7Wonders of Nature Panel of Experts, under the leadership of Prof. Federico Mayor, former Director-General of UNESCO, will review the top 77 nominees and choose the 21 finalists, to be announced on 21 July 2009. These finalists will then be put to popular vote.

Visit New7Wonders for more info and to vote for our nominees. After the support shown for Cape Town on the Monopoly World Vote competition (resulting in our beautiful city to occupy the prime third spot), we know that the support for Cape Town is there.

Khayelitsha Festival

What better way to honour Khayelitsha’s 25th anniversary than a Khayelitsha Festival celebration, jam-packed with local youth, entertainment and entrepreneurship?

The largest event of its kind in the Western Cape, the Khayelitsha Festival, based on the hugely successful Soweto Festival, takes off on Friday 24 -26 October at the OR Tambo Hall. Primarily targeting Khayelitsha, surrounding communities and greater Cape Town, the festival is sponsored by the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town in association with the Khayelitsha Development Forum.

With three days of non-stop entertainment from local and national artists, and a world-class fashion show, focusing on local, emerging designer talent, festival-fun-seekers will be spoiled for choice. Local small businesses and NGOs, as well as bigger brands will be plying their goods and services to eager patrons .

The Youth will make a beeline for the awesome line-up of activities at the Youth Zone, where very funky career guidance counselling is on offer. Tertiary institutions and other organisations targeting 16-25 year youth will feature alongside a stage featuring relevant, entertaining presentations with DJs & media personalities as role models with important social messages.

“This is a festival for all the people,” remarked City of Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille, keynote speaker at the recent Khayelitsha Festival media launch, where she actively encouraged private sector corporate participation in this exciting venture, identifying this as a key ingredient in the ultimate success of the festival.

The Festival comprises the following major themes, each of which will provide a focus for sponsors, exhibitors and the visiting public: SMME Development; Youth Zone; Arts & Culture; Main Stage Entertainment Programme; Travel & Tourism; Health, Beauty & Fashion.

The City and the Province are sponsoring 60 SMME and 20 NGO stands and organizers are encouraging local community SMMEs to enter, to stand the chance of being selected to showcase their products and services at the festival. Sponsored SMME exhibitors will be trained and provided with all the tools necessary to promote, market and sell their products and services at the exhibition as well as providing valuable follow-up support.

The Khayelitsha Festival will also showcase up-and-coming artists and entertainers, providing a great launch pad for local talent.

Seeking strong backing from the private sector and from local communities, the festival will not only attract residents from Khayelitsha, the Cape Flats communities and the Western Cape, but also aims to draw more affluent city and suburban consumers, and tourists keen to visit Khayelitsha and experience the unique community vibe in a vibrant, entertaining setting. 

There is plenty of safe, secure parking at the OR Tambo Hall – the instantly visible large white building right next to the N2, off the Mew Way ramp, Khayelitsha.

Visit the website www.khayelitshafestival.co.za

Cape Town International Kite Festival

This feel-good family event is Africa’s biggest kite festival and is organised by Cape Mental Health in association with Heart 104.9 FM. This will be the fourteenth Cape Town International Kite Festival, and will once again be flying high, raising funds and promoting good mental health.

Professional kiters from Europe, USA, Japan and South Africa will be winging their way to Festival to display their amazing kite creations. Local visitors can bring along their own kites, make a kite at the kite-making workshops or just enjoy watching the colourful aerial extravaganza.

By filling the sky with kites, Cape Mental Health is making the world a nicer place – not only for the visitors to the Festival – but also for the thousands of people with mental disabilities who benefit from the organisation’s services every year. For people with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities, it’s all about BEING SEEN, BEING HEARD AND BEING INCLUDED – rather than being overlooked, underestimated, and discriminated against. It’s about the freedom to fly ‘up, up and away’ – and to reach heights that previously seemed unachievable.

With food stalls, live entertainment, giant inflatables, kiddies’ rides, a craft market and exhibition of health products and services there will be lots to interest and entertain the whole family. Heart 104.9 FM will be broadcasting live on both days; come and meet the Heart DJs face to face.

Entry is R10 per adult and R5 per child, with all profits going to support the work of Cape Mental Health. The Festival will be open from 10h00 until 18h00 each day and takes place on the lawns surrounding Zandvlei, Muizenberg. There is lots of parking and easy access by train (False Bay or Muizenberg stations).

For more information visit www.capementalhealth.co.za

Robertson Wine on the River

The Robertson WIne on the River Festival takes place this weekend (17 October - 19 October).

The event is to take place in a spacious marquee at the charming riverside farm, Goudmyn, situated on the R317 between Robertson and Bonnievale.
Visitors are to park at Spes Bona - the adjacent, adjoining plot - where they will be shuttled by land to the hub of activity at Goudmyn. The Breede River, the lifeline sustaining the entire Robertson Wine Valley, is an appropriate, celebrated focal point for this Festival.
Enjoy laid-back country hospitality at its best as you taste more than 300 wines from over 40 wineries while soaking up the rhythm of live jazz, ballads and blues. While wine tasting is the order of the day, there will be delicious gastronomic delights from which to choose, including the option of creating your own picnic to relish on the banks of the river.
Or why not dine ‘lazy-lunching style’ at the riverside restaurant? Visitors can also amble through the Robertson Farmers’ Market, or nonchalantly weave their way through the diverse array of country food stalls, sampling the home-made delicacies on offer. With so much on the go, Robertson Wine on the River offers something for everyone! There will, once again, be the ever-popular, well-orchestrated tutored tastings of bubbly, chardonnay, cheese, chocolate, olives and olive oil where visitors can revel in one culinary adventure after another.
With a wide variety of children’s activities available, Robertson Wine on the River promises to be a fabulously festive family affair.
And, this year, children under 12 enter free of charge, making it more convenient and cost-effective for the whole family to enjoy all that the Valley has to offer! After free admission, children’s activities will be charged on a ‘pay as you go’ system.
With wines at Spes Bona being sold on site at cellar door prices, Robertson Wine on the River offers the perfect opportunity to stock up on your favourite Robertson wines, invariably considered good value. Visitors can select their preferences from a myriad of fine local wines, ranging from easy-drinking to top of the range.
Due to popular demand, the duration of Robertson Wine on the River has now been extended to incorporate Sunday as well. So bring your friends and family along for a festive extravaganza of fine wine, delectable treats, great music and complete relaxation amidst a rural ambience of spectacular scenery and warm sunshine.

Visit the website for more details: www.wineonriver.com

Or book at computicket