A group of young artists will team up with the Mandela Bay Development Agency to launch the city’s first Kulture Kapital festival – a week-long event that will coincide with Youth Day.
The initiative aims to promote tourism while also getting Bay residents excited about their city and the artistic talent it hosts.
On the cards for the week – starting on June 10 – are pop-up performances, domestic film screenings, a street fashion show, concerts and flash mobs, among others.
According to Oyama Vanto of the Creative Industry sector at the Mandela Bay Development Agency, Kulture Kapital will create an environment for cultural expressions using the city’s public spaces.
Vanto said: “The programme is fun-filled with exciting pop-up performance activities in Govan Mbeki Avenue, market opportunities, local film screenings at the Athenaeum, a street fashion show in Govan Mbeki Avenue, hip-hop music performances on Trinder Square, cultural dances at Vuyisile Mini Square, music video shoots, photo-booth installations, flash mobs and lots more.” All activities would be hosted at no charge. Llewellyn Williams, of Nelson Mandela Bay Fashion Week, said the programme would not only offer a platform for young people to showcase their talents, but was an opportunity for residents to learn more and understand the cultural mapping of the city.
He said the Fashion Week team would host Port Elizabeth’s first outdoor fashion show against the backdrop of the central business district’s building infrastructure and architecture.
“As evening falls, the full moon will light up the sky behind models strutting the outdoor ramp,” he said.
Annelize Botha, of the Locally Yours Market, said 64 entrepreneurs, all aged 35 or younger, would be presenting their handmade arts, crafts and food products at the Tramways Building from 10am to 3pm on Sunday, June 10.
The market’s theme would be “Your age is your impact.”
“We hope this market will be a launch platform for many of these entrepreneurs,” Botha said.
The MBDA would also invest in these entrepreneurs by promoting them on a dedicated web page so prospective stockists could gain information about their products and services, she said.
“We will also have a dedicated area for the Young Entrepreneurs Programme and 20 children aged between eight and 13 will be marketing their beautiful handmade products.”
The programme will kick off with the market and end on Friday next week with a Bay Fashion Friday event.
Heritage tours are planned for the Monday and Tuesday, starting at the Tramways Building. The route starts at the South End Museum, moving to the Campanile, the Sanlam building, Vuyisile Mini Square and Central’s Route 67 and Fort Frederick.
