Whether it’s a psychedelic festival or a sedate 2010 send-off you’re after, there is plenty to choose from on December 31.

Johannesburg

• Wild Waters Complex in Boksburg will host one of the biggest parties to usher in the year 2011. The list of DJs is a constellation of who’s who in South Africa’s house, hip-hop and funk music scene. It includes Euphonik, DJ Fresh, Household Funk, Louis, Speedy, Morgan, Bobstar Deluxe & Brands, Leo, Brad S, Nick Essential, Wayne Harbour (from Austria) and Mark Stent, Essential Groove, Nifty and Calculus.

  Wild Waters Complex, 1 Margaret Lane, Bardene, Boksburg. The party starts at 5pm, December 31. R150 gets you in.

• The Bassline doesn’t normally host parties of this nature or magnitude but on December 31 the venue will have two dance floors and 10 DJs, who will include Kid Fonque, Blunted Stuntman, Dexterity, Wireless G, Offbeat, Phat Jack, Bubbles, MPI, Benson and DJ Bob. Anything goes at the party and some of the genres that will be sampled include broken beats, dub step, hip-hop and jungle. The party starts at 8pm and the managers of the venue say only 200 people can be accommodated, so you had better book early.

  The Bassline, Newtown, New Year’s Eve. Tickets are available at www.bassline.co.za for R80. There is free underground parking at No 1, Central Place, next door to the venue.

• The Jo’burg Carnival is now in its seventh year and has become a favourite of the city’s denizens. This year’s theme is ”Jozi, My Jozi, My City”. The colourful and cacophonic parade will start in Kotze Street in downtown Jozi at noon and will proceed through the city, over the iconic Nelson Mandela Bridge and end at Newtown Park. It will include a weird assortment of dancers and bikers, choirs and bands, floats and city residents.

  Kotze Street, December 31, from 12pm.

  Cape Town

  • Consciousness collides with ”con-shizzle” when Jo’burg-based rapper Slikour headlines the Joburg’s Greatest Rocks the Mother City Street Party. The award-winning Skwatta Kamp emcee has recently dropped his frenetically funky new solo album, Ventilation Volume 3, which swaggers from tongue-in-cheeky satires of nightclub VIP wannabes and kwaai electro-hop remixes to hedonistic hip-shakers and razor-sharp state-of-the-BEE-nation addresses. A VIP line-up of Mzansi house DJs, including Fistaz Mixwell, Naves, Glen Da DJ, Leo Large, Ozy and Odi, lubricate the bling and booty-chasing grooves.

    Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, New Church and Victoria streets, CBD, December 31, 8pm. Entrance is R100 or R300 (VIP).

  • A cutting-edge cocktail of psytrance, funk, soul, hip-hop, electro, dubstep, breakbeats and beyond from more than 80 local and international live acts and DJs makes the annual Rezonance New Year’s Festival the discerning dance fiend’s choice. Electro-jazzy house favourites Goldfish and synth-pop poster boy Jax Panik will share the late-afternoon live spotlights with Afro-Brazilian groove fusionists Napalma, African dub alchemist Kalahari Surfers and British breakbeat bomber General Midi.

    Contermanskloof Estate, Exit 22 off N1 towards Durbanville, December 31 to January 2. Gates open at noon on December 31. Admission R360 (presale) R400 (gate). www.rezonancefestival.com. Book at www.webtickets.co.za.
    

  • Inner-city party animals looking to bid farewell to 2010 with a bang should diarise the first-of-its-kind East City Block Party, which brings together more than 30 DJs and live acts on seven dance floors in four venues with thunderous sounds rigs, trippy visuals, fire dancers and more.

    East City Precinct, Harrington Street, Cape Town, December 31, 7pm. Entrance is R150 (early bird), R200 (pre-sold) or R300 (pre-sold VIP).

    Durban

    • Say hello to 2011 at the edge of the ocean on Durban’s beachfront at 5FM’s Black Tie and Barefoot Beach Party on New Year’s Eve. The holiday spirit will be out in force with 5FM shlebs and the country’s hottest DJs at the centre of a storm of bubbly, cocktails, canapés, chic decor and hot party beats. 5FM’s C-Live, Poppy Ntshongwana, Milkshake and Catherine are supported by top turntable talent in the form of Coco Loco, Martin McHale, Shane D, DJ Roxxi, Kevin Grenfell, Stuart Hillary and many more.

      The Beach Club, next to uShaka Marine World, Durban beachfront, Friday December 31, from 7.30pm. General access tickets are R200 presale and R250 at the door. VIP tickets R400 presale only. Tickets available from Computicket and Ticketbreak. Visit www.blacktieandbarefoot.co.za and www.5fm.co.za for more information.

    • World-renowned Pietermaritzburg pianist Christopher Duigan enjoys A Pianist’s Holiday with a series of concerts at his intimate home studio on Friday December 31 for those who prefer to usher in the new year in a more refined fashion. Having recently joined one of the world’s most elite associations by being named a Steinway Pianist, Duigan presents four New Year’s concerts that feature his customary blend of popular classical and light piano entertainment.

      35 Montgomery Drive, Pietermaritzburg. Wednesday December 29, Thursday December 30, Friday December 31, 7.30pm and Sunday January 2, 3.30pm. Tickets are R90, which includes a glass of wine and coffee. Advance booking is essential. Visit www.musicrevival.co.za.