The Company’s Garden is set to play host to the Cape Town Summer Market, an 11-day family market taking place between Friday 14 and Monday 24 December 2012.
The market will be open from 12:00 to 21:00 daily (except on Christmas Eve, when it will close at 17:00), and will offer some of the finest handmade crafts and goods that Cape Town has to offer. Bring along the whole family and enjoy some down-time in the Gardens, or leave the kids at the Kids’ Zone and finish off your Christmas shopping in style!
As part of the occasion, Ring-a-Rose Events Planners have organised and will be facilitating a host of activities aimed at both adults and children. Temporary airbrush tattoos, body art and face-painting, crafting activities like sand art and beading crafts, waterslides, climbing walls and carousels will ensure that all patrons have plenty to keep them entertained. Activities will cost R10 each, or visitors have the option of a full day pass for R50.
The Company’s Garden can be accessed from Queen Victoria Street; the corner of Wale Street and Adderley Street (entering the Garden up Government Avenue next to St George’s Cathedral); Orange Street (opposite the Mount Nelson Hotel), and for those who are parking at Cape Town High School, by turning into Hatfield Road and entering via the Paddocks.
The City of Cape Town encourages as many people as possible to make use of public transport to get to the market. There is a MyCiTi bus stop at the top of Orange Street, and the Cape Town train station is a short 10 minute walk through the city’s vibrant centre, past the famous flower-sellers and other street vendors.
For visitors arriving by car, parking will be available at Cape Town High School at a cost of R30. In addition, parking garages are situated at 15 On Orange, and in Burg Street. Normal street parking at a cost of R11 per hour can also be found in surrounding areas.
There will be over 40 food vendors selling a wide variety of gastronomic delights, or you could even bring your own picnic. Sous chef Christo Van Den Berg will treat visitors to some great Afrikaner traditional dishes, such as Karoo skaap bredie, smoked snoek, mielie brood, suurvye and delicacies like apricot and watermelon konfyt, cheeses and home dried biltong.
Entrance to the market is free, while entrance to the Company’s Garden Party is R40 (under-18s must be accompanied by an adult).
Cape Town Central Improvement District (CCID) officers, Metro Police and additional market security guards will be on patrol in the area to ensure the safety of visitors. Sufficient lighting is provided for those who want to keep browsing until 21:00.
“We are excited about the market and are hoping to see entire families coming out to enjoy everything on offer. I feel that this event promises to exemplify the safe and inclusive atmosphere that the City hopes to create,” says Alderman Belinda Walker, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning.
For more information, visit the Cape Town Summer Market’s Information Office, situated next to the Company’s Garden restaurant, or e-mail them at ctsummermarket@gmail.com, follow them on Twitter @CTSummerMarket or like them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cape-Town-Summer-Market
