Cape Town Festival
Visitors looking for car hire in South Africa have adventure in mind, and an independence of spirit that will appreciate all that the country has to offer the savvy traveler. South Africa is an enormously diverse place, with diversity of cultures, languages, and landscape, and a car will offer the freedom to go off the beaten track and find some of the lesser-known treasures. There are excellent distractions in the cities, with some of the most fascinating metropolises in the world, and having one’s own car means spending more time doing the things you enjoy, and at your own pace. There are also tremendously exciting things to see in the country, with wilderness areas that are absolutely stunning. Beaches to urban adventures await you here.
One of the more exciting events held in South Africa annually is the Cape Town Festival. This is a must-see event that celebrates the cultures and heritages of the South African community, held in the Mother City. Now in its tenth year, the Cape Town Festival operates under the motto One City, Many Cultures, to express the philosophy of the event. This festival recognizes the diversity and history of South Africa, and is a way for the locals to come together and celebrate the unique blend of cultures here. It is also open to visitors, of course, and is an excellent way to get to know South Africa. Dance, performance, and other forms of public art are on display here, along with workshops and events for children, to highlight the richness of the creative community.
One of the main attractions at the festival is the music. There are tremendously popular local acts, such as Nomfusi Gotyana, the Rudimentals, and Prime Circle. This past year’s Cape Town Festival feartured Coda as the headliner. They brought the house down, as did one of the other local favorites, Incognito. One of the main culminating events of the festival is held on the last day, where the Human Rights Day celebration takes place, this year with marimba music and dancing. Again, the emphasis here is on the variety of cultures, and is a celebration of their art forms in a forum that brings the whole city together.
08.11.09Darwin in Cambridge
I was fortunate enough to attend this years Darwin Festival held in the University of Cambridge. This marks 200 years since Charles Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species.’ The Festival will host over 100 thinkers, artists, authors, and debates all encompassing and celebrating the ideas of Darwin.
I was also fortunate enough to piggyback a room at a Cambridge Hotel, one of my associates booked a room almost a year ago just for this event. When I tried to book a room anywhere in Cambridge, I had no luck. I’m very grateful that my associate let me stay in his room. It made the Festival that much more enjoyable and less expensive as we split the cost of the room.
The University of Cambridge sessions will use and draw on it’s museums, gardens and colleges which all hold the world’s largest collections of Darwin’s plants, animals, fossil and geological specimens. Darwin’s unpublished works and published works, correspondences and notes will be on displays as well. I’ll be able to partake in a guide tour which includes a hand’s on workshop, short talks and lively discussions led by the museums curators, collectors and archivist specialists. The ‘All Explore’ sessions will be free. But , I need to make arrangements with each. I picked only three of them: The University Botanic Garden which was founded by Darwin. The Fitzwilliam Museum where I’ll see a ground breaking exhibit exploring the fascinating relationship between the revolutionary theories of Charles Darwin and late 19th century art. Finally, the Darwin Walking Tour, which covers sites connected with Darwin’s time in Cambridge like Christ’s College. I’ll get to see his rooms in the Library, the Dining Hall and the Memorial Garden.
What will really be the best part about the Darwin Festival is the quest speakers. Sir David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, Dame Gillian Beer, Harold Varmus, Sir Brian Hoskins, Sir Peter Cran and Lord Martin Rees, just to name a few
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