Jo'burg festival pick: August 26 2011

Johannesburg’s big-city festival, Arts Alive, kicks off on September 1 and close to 10 mini-festivals will take place during the month.

■ One of these is the seventh Soweto Wine Festival, which runs at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus from September 1 to 3. The event now draws a big crowd, not necessarily confined to township circles, because many visitors are interested in or have business interests in the wine industry.

Other Arts Alive programmes include the official CIT:Y Festival, on at Museum Africa until September 30, which showcases student work in graphic and textile design, visual arts and photography; the University of the Witwatersrand’s Drama for Life Sex Actually Festival, at Wits until September 9, which uses performances and workshops to explore human experience; the Streetpop Festival that runs at G-spot in Mofolo village, Soweto; and the SA Tattoo that runs at Montecasino from September 1 to 3. The Africa Unites live concert on September 9 at the Bassline stars Nigerian pop star Asa and Kenya’s Eric Wainaina among the main acts.

For details and schedules of all events, visit www.artsalive.co.za.