WE ARE ONE colour festival to announce Summer dates soon.
Aug12

WE ARE ONE colour festival to announce Summer dates soon.

The folks at Seed Experiences want to set the record straight regarding the many pop-ups of the colour festivals. WE ARE ONE is brought to you by Seed Experiences, and if you have colour, read more after the jump. In March and April this year tens of thousands of colour-crazy revellers covered Cape Town and Johannesburg in a kaleidoscope of green, orange, pink, yellow and blue at the original WE ARE ONE Colour Festivals. When it launched, WE ARE ONE was the first electronic dance music (EDM) event based on a colour powder festival concept to launch in South Africa. As the first festival of its kind in the country, WE ARE ONE attracted sell-out crowds in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It also set in motion a “colour festival phenomenon” that has seen several ‘copycat’ versions of the original WE ARE ONE colour festival crop up in cities around the country as promoters jump on the colour powder bandwagon after seeing the success WE ARE ONE generated. The public has taken notice of this as questions are asked online and in social media about why there are so many different colour festivals that seem so similar. As the company responsible for putting on WE ARE ONE, award-winning Seed Experiences wants to set the record straight. “We don’t claim to be the first colour festival ever and the concept of a non-religious colour festival is no longer new and many are held around the world. But to be sure WE ARE ONE is South Africa’s First Colour Festival of its kind and, as Seed Experiences, we remain committed to throwing successful colour festivals that are about music and people having a great time in the spirit of togetherness,” says Brian Little, Managing Director of Seed Experiences. Despite other versions of the first WE ARE ONE Colour Festival popping up, Seed Experiences is confident that both existing fans and new colour-party revellers will support the country’s first EDM colour festival. “Like all of Seed Experiences events WE ARE ONE set the standards in South Africa. People who attend WE ARE ONE know they are part of the first festival in the country and they know they can expect a world-class event, the best line-up, and an overall amazing experience. This is clear from our sell-out events in March and April,” adds Brian. Seed Experiences will be announcing the new venues and dates for the summer WE ARE ONE Colour Festivals very soon. The official announcements will be made on the Facebook pages and to media in the coming days. If it doesn’t say WE ARE ONE, it’s not South Africa’s First Colour Festival music and party event! Find WE ARE...

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Dumile goes Back To The City.
May03

Dumile goes Back To The City.

#BTTC or in its full name, Back To The City is an event that gathers a variety of the “dopest” Hip Hop acts around. Represent teamed up with Dumile Mposula who tip-toed his way around the festival to bring us in his own words, the low down of the #BTTC event. The Back To The City Hip Hop Festival has grown into a hugely successful event since its inception in 2006. Attendance figures have increased from the initial 3500 to 15 000 last year. The festival features artists representing the pinnacle of artistic expression from South Africa and has grown into the largest public display of both commercial and underground hip hop in South Africa. The 2013 event was no disappointment. From graffiti artist spray-painting Newtown walls to B-boys doing their thing on the Redbull stage, all of Hip Hop culture was on display, it was a true haven for Hip Hop lovers all over the country. The artist lineup featured Maxhoseni, Tumi from Tumi and the Volume, Siya Shezi, Zuluboy, H20, iFani and Proverb to name a few. The surprise act from the United States, EMC2 also had fans going crazy. All in all, this year’s Back To The City festival was amazing and I’m sure 2014 will only be better....

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Freedom to Dance at Arts Alive
Aug26

Freedom to Dance at Arts Alive

There’s one week to go till the City of Johannesburg’s nearly month-long Arts Alive festival kicks off on the 3rd of September  – we’re hoping you’ve already decided which part of the festival calls your name and booked your baby-sitter.  This year we’re spoilt for choice with a broad line up of dance, comedy, theatre, film, visual arts, poetry and music to choose from throughout September…  We’re going to be covering the Freedom to Dance House and Hip Hop event at Carfax that kicks off the festival  – here’s the deal: The stage is set, the line-up has been finalised, finishing touches are being made and the smell of excitement and anticipation is thick in the air. It’s that time of year again… the 2009 17th annual Joburg Arts Alive International Festival set to take place in Johannesburg between the 3rd and 27th of September. In addition to the numerous captivating art disciplines set to grace urban central Johannesburg such as, theatre, dance (from classical to contemporary and street), visual arts, comedy, spoken word and poetry, the festival will also play host to the Arts Alive Freedom to Dance extravaganza, taking place at Carfax – Jozi on Friday the 4th of September 2009. Aimed at youth, this evening will whet the appetite of the toughest music critic with performances by leading house and hip hop DJ’s from South Africa. Guests on the evening will also be privy tothe electric legendary beats of international house sensation Rocco who by reputation exceeds all expectations. A regular on the Europe, USA and Asia house scenes, Rocco’s Deep House is rapidly growing in popularity among South African audiences. Rocco has previously been welcomed to South African shores and has played for an astounding 3000 spectators. His most recent release called “Someday” on Real Tone Records struck a chord with international and South African audiences alike having made its way to the Traxsource’s charts for 3 weeks and already supported by Louie Vega, Mr V. and Laurent Garnier! The House Floor at Carfax will also play host to many talented South African DJ’S including MacG, Mo Flava, Willie, Oskido, Bouer and Monde. And who could forget to mention the infamously popular Black Coffee who began his DJ career in 1994 while still in High School? His Deep/Afro House, Soulful Lounge, and broken beats are known around the country and are testament to his excellence. If Hip Hop is more your scene then get ready for an evening filled with insane beats and wicked rhymes. With appearances by Beatoven, Vigi, and Tholi B the evening is set to rock all the way through to the...

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Standard Bank Joy of Jazz & Workshops
Aug17

Standard Bank Joy of Jazz & Workshops

Warm up the last winter weekend this August at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival in downtown Johannesburg… Young Jazz musicians take note, they’re running a series of free jazz workshops during the festival: Running from August 27 to 29 in Newtown, the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2009 line-up features artists from America, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands who will be joined by top performers from South Africa and the African Diaspora. Performers from the African continent include South Africa’s Jonas Gwangwa; Afro Jazz featuring Jimmy Dludlu; Vusi Mahlasela; Brian Thusi; Sterling EQ; the 2009 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for jazz Kesivan Naidoo as well as the Nigerian All Stars featuring Kúnlé Ayo and Rwanda’s Somi. Read more about the artists below… Some of the world’s leading jazz musicians – appearing at this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz which takes place in Newtown from August 27 to 29 – will run free workshops teaching youngsters and musicians the intricacies of the craft. They include acclaimed Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider; Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen; American pianist Bob Baldwin and saxophonist Marion Meadows and American jazz vocalist Arlee Leonard. The two groups giving workshops are Netherlands’ popular outfit Room 11 comprising Janne Schra (vocals), Arriën Molema (guitar), Tony Roe (keyboards), Lucas Dols (bass) and Maarten Molema (drums) and Spain’s Sumrrá featuring Manuel Gutiérrez (piano), Xacobeo Martínez Antelo (double bass) and Luis Alberto Rodriguez (LAR) Legido (drums). For more information on the workshops contact Mojalefa Gwangwa at T Musicman on 011 326 0141 or email ar@tmusicman.co.za The itinerary is as follows: Thursday August 27 from 11am to 1.30pm at the following venues: ·         Music Academy of Gauteng (Daveyton) – Ingrid Jensen ·         South West Gauteng College (Soweto) – Andreas Vollenweider ·         Moses Molelekwa Artist Foundation (Tembisa) – Room 11 ·         Central Johannesburg College (Johannesburg Central) – Marion Meadows and Bob Baldwin ·         Beverly Hills (Sedibeng – Vereeniging) – Arlee Leonard ·         Tshwane University of Technology (Tshwane) – Sumrrá For more information on the line-up, venues go to www.standardbankjazz.co.za and www.tmusicman.co.za. More on the line-up: Leading South African songstresses Judith Sephuma and Unathi Nkayi are joining the already impressive line-up at this year’s Standard Bank Joy of Jazz. Sephuma – who is regarded as one of the country’s leading jazz and Afro-pop singers and is the recipient of three South African Music Awards (SAMAs) – will perform on the Dinaledi Stage on Friday, August 28. She shares the stage with Spain’s Summra; the Lao Tizer Band featuring violinist Karen Briggs and guitarist Chieli Minucci and Main Ingredient from the US which includes vocalist Cuba Gooding. Over the years,...

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Film fra Sør – Films from the South
Oct15

Film fra Sør – Films from the South

Sharpile to Mzansi Madame for the heads up on the ‘Films from the South’ movie festival happening this week in Oslo, Norway, that features four movies from Southern Africa including the much-talked about Jerusalema that’s being entered for an Oscar for Foreign Film. Looks like an outstanding platform to show your films so keep working and let’s get ’em in next year! If you know of any other overseas festivals that call for African entries, please shout! See the four films below: Darling – The Pieter Uys Story,’Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story provides an insight into Uy’s life as a comedian and provocateur.’ Sleepwalking Land – Mozambique- ‘Sleepwalking Land is a sweet and heart-warming story of friendship and painful memories too hard to bear.’ Disgrace starring John Malkovich – ‘ adaptation of Nobel Prize winner J. M. Coetzee’s novel’ Without the King – Swaziland –  Without the King tells the story of Swaziland – where the last absolute monarch in Africa rules over what is one of the world’s poorest...

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