By all accounts, this year’s Design Indaba, the international art and design conference and expo that was held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, was once again a roaring success. According to the organisers, “preliminary figures show that more than 38 000 people attended the Design Indaba Expo in 2012.”
Capetonians and visitors to the Mother City are in for a feast of events over the next month. Hot on the heels of Design Indaba, the international art and design conference/expo that attracted industry experts from all over the world, is the Infecting the City Public Arts Festival from 6 – 10 March 2012. The festival features artworks by local and international artists in communal spaces in the city centre. The art will encourage audiences to see, hear and smell the extraordinary by taking a fresh look at the Mother City, its residents, and themselves in different ways.
The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, the world’s largest timed cycle event with 35 000 cyclists from around the world will have hearts racing for 109 km on Sunday, 11 March 2012. This year sees a key departure from previous years – individual online entries have been limited to 30 000. The remaining 5 000 entries have been made available as bonds to charities and corporates, which will use them to raise money for worthy causes.
Festival goers and music lovers can start dusting off their party frocks, feathers and heels for the Cape Town Carnival on Saturday, 24 March, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival Community Concert at Greenmarket Square on 28 March 2012 and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the weekend of 30 and 31 March 2012.
Barely a month later, on Saturday, 7 April 2012, over 20 000 runners will take to the streets for the 43rd Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon. The Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) recently awarded Gold Label status to the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, giving the event more prestige on the global stage.
The City of Cape Town is buoyant about the impact these events will have on the image and local economy of Cape Town in 2012. “The collective economic impact of Design Indaba, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon alone, is expected to exceed some R100 million and attract many thousands of business and leisure visitors to our city”, says Councillor Grant Pascoe, Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing.
“Hundreds of businesses – caterers, event organisers, guest houses, airport services, restaurants, sound and visual equipment, florists, stand builders – benefit from events hosted in Cape Town. These events sustain jobs, and ultimately put bread on the tables of families who might have had to go without otherwise. The importance of the events is not only their economic impact and image of Cape Town as the home of top events; the events supported by the City of Cape Town all create a better future for our people – whether through the training of young photographers or musicians, thereby providing a ramp for emerging fashion designers or a sporting chance for young athletes from a disadvantaged background, or boosting local cultural practice and traditions”, Pascoe said.
