INNIBOS – Lowveld Arts Festival – Mpumalanga
The Afrikaans Arts festival in Mpumalanga kicks off today and carries on over the weekend… It’s got an interesting twist – the mainly Afrikaans festival is also geared at Portuguese speakers due to it’s proximity to Mozambique and the large Portuguese speaking community in the area. It’s taking place in various venues around Nelspruit and instead of buying one ticket, similar to the G…
-town festival, you buy for the shows you want to see. Some big names at first glance: DOZI, Valiant Swart, Anton Goosen, Fokofpolisiekar, Amanda Strijdom, Cut Glass, Manuel Escorcio and NiaNel.
INNIBOS
29 June – 3 July
Nelspruit
Mpumalanga
Some background:
Hold onto your chairs and strap in tight: InniBos 2005 kicked off on 29 June and is set to take festival goers to arts festival nirvana with some of the country’s most well-known artists, productions and actors confirmed for this year’s lineup.
InniBos 2004 was undoubtedly a huge success – approximately 25 000 visitors from across the country attended the festival with its 62 productions.
InniBos is bigger and better this time round and the 2005 programme, wich will be hosted in Nelspruit from 29 June to 3 July, is sure to take entertainment in the Lowveld to the highest level.
The festival terrain will host 4 stages, ý30 food stalls, 4 sit down restaurants, ý250 art and craft stalls, a merry-go-round, an “art in the park” fine arts section for visual arts, 2 large beer tents, and much more.
The RSG Opening Concert, which will take place on Thursday 29th June at the main festival arena, will kick off with favourites such as Kurt Darren, Juanita Du Plessis, Pieter Smith, DNA Strings, Karen & Reneý (the 2004 Zing winners), Nadine and Ddisselblom and will be hosted by Pieter Koen. The festival stage will offer non-stop entertainment every day of the festival. This year will see the start of a main stream artist performing a full show on the main stage every evening with singers such as Pieter Smith, Dozi, the ATKV show “Afrikiti” and Ghapi.
The festival will again offer a delightful Portuguese flavor which forms part of the general festival activities with authentic Portuguese foods stalls, music and dance.
The InniBos programme obviously offers more than just the festival ground activities: Lucky visitors can look forward to the likes of Nianell, Laurika Rauch and Amanda Strydom, as well as the legendary David Kramer, who will all be hosting shows in some of the various venues utilized for inniBos. Manuel Escorcio and the Querida Dance Company’s “Timeless”, and the sharp humor of Cutt Glas are more of the highlights on offer.
“We’re extremely proud of the high standard of entertainment on offer at InniBos and with the amount of enquiries already received, we look forward to welcoming over 35 000 visitors to this national arts festival. The mild winter climate makes June and July the best time of year to visit the Lowveld,” says Sandra Jacobs, Marketing Manager of the Lowveld national arts festival.
A highlight on the program line-up is undoubtedly the internationally renowned Belgian-based male A Capella group, Voice Male with a performance that will be remembered for a long time. Their unique talent and musical excellence provides a new and beautiful take on those all-time favourites. The show will feature Amanda Strydom as guest artist.
And for the die-hard rockers amongst us, InniBos 2005’s Blue Moon programme features a fabulous lineup that includes Watershed, The Albert Frost Trio, Piet Botha, Jackhammer, Karen Zoid and Prime Circle.
The productions don’t consist of music only of course, and will also feature some outstanding theatre productions. Festival goers can look forward to plays such as “Faan se trein”, “Haaks”, “Gehang” , “Wywe Weduwees en Woede”, amongst others, starring well known artists such as Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Paul Eilers, Frank Opperman, Tobie Cronjý, Pedro Kruger and Lizz Meiring, to mention but a few. Paul Slabolepszy in “The return of Elvis du Pisanie” is another production which should not be missed!
The InniBos programme also includes children’s productions, classical music, story telling and some wonderful gospel productions. The festival will end with a 2 hour gospel show from the main stage at 17:00 on Sunday 3 July featuring some of the country’s top gospel artists.
Bookings for over 50 shows at InniBos can be booked at Computicket countrywide:
Tickets can be booked as follows:
ý Over the counter at any Computicket countrywide.
ý On the internet at www.computicket.com or the InniBos website at www.innibos.co.za
ý Telephonic by credit card by contacting 083 915 8000
ý Telephonic without a credit card by contacting 083 915 7000
All the programme details are available on the InniBos website at INNIBOS. For more information please contact the festival office on 013 – 741 5294.
It is also easy to book accommodation. Simply go to the InniBos website at www.innibos.co.za and click on “accommodation”, or phone Amanda at the festival office on (013) 741 5294. For more accommodation options in the Lowveld, call Lowveld Tourism on (013) 755 1988 and speak to Petra or e-mail her on PETRA
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