Don’t Miss This: April 24 – May 1

MULDERSDRIFT

• Nirox’s amphitheatre will host the Soil, Bongeziwe Mabandla, the Muffinz, Zenzi Makeba Lee, Tidal Waves, Jika Nelanga and Qadasi & Maqhinga Radebe for a Freedom Day Concert. Food by The Epicurian Emporium a collective of high-end food stalls from the burgeoning food & design markets, with emphasis on naturally and locally sourced options, craft beer and art will be on offer. WHEN April 27 at 10am. WHERE Nirox Sculpture Park. INFO Tickets cost R300 online or R320 at the gate. Children under 12 pay half price. Visit acousticsnow.org

WIN 3 double tickets to the Freedom Day concert at Nirox Sculpture Park on April 27. Send your name, contact details and the name of one of the featured musical acts to [email protected]. 
Winners will be notified via email on Friday, April 24.

JOHANNESBURG

• Kaya FM and the Bassline honour Simphiwe Dana’s 10-year music career with a concert. The Zandisile star will perform material from her latest Sama-nominated album Firebrand as well as her all-time favourites. “Music has allowed me to voice my opinions about the world I live in,” she says. WHEN April?25. WHERE Bassline, Newtown. INFO Tickets from webtickets.co.za

• International multiple award-winning American gospel singer and pastor Marvin Sapp will perform with South African gospel royalty on Freedom Day in a concert titled Soulful Sounds: Soul Revival Session international gospel concert. Local singers include Ntokozo Mbambo, Benjamin Dube, Solly Mahlangu, Sifiso Ncwane and Apostle Mokoena. WHEN April?27 from 4pm until midnight. WHERE The Coca-Cola Dome, North Riding. INFO Tickets range from R295 to R1?950 at ticketpros.co.za

• Catch Kassav’ in concert as part of Re-connection African series. Hailing from Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Antilles, Kassav’ incorporates Creole and carnival elements from the Caribbean and elements of rock, African music and pop. WHEN April?26 at 9.30pm. WHERE The Bassline, Newtown. INFO Tickets cost R200 from webtickets.co.za or R250 at the door. Visit bassline.co.za

• The University of Johannesburg and its Confucius Institute is hosting the Li Bin Exhibition, a tribute to Nelson Mandela. Li Bin was commissioned by the Chinese government to create Mandela, a 38m long and 3.8m high panoramic oil painting in three segments – Prisoner, President and Peacemaker – that depicts his lifelong struggle for peace and tolerance. The process to create this detailed imaginary triptych took two years. WHEN From April?22 for two weeks. WHERE Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Bunting Road Campus, FADA Building, Auckland Park.

• Nineties hip-hop group Onyx headlines the Back to the City Festival. Featured artists include Cassper Nyovest, Proverb, Reason, Riky Rick, DJ Kenzhero and more. WHEN April 27 from 10am – 2am WHERE Mary Fitzgerald Square COST Tickets range from R150 – R300. INFO Visit backtothecityfestival.com

PRETORIA

• Join jazz musicians and poets, including Keorapetse Kgositsile, Dr Johnny Mekoa and the Music Academy of Gauteng Jazz Ensemble, in celebrating International Jazz Day. WHEN April 30 at 7.30pm. WHERE Rendezvous, State Theatre, 320 Pretorius Street. INFO Limited seats available from computicket.com

KWAZULU-NATAL

• African music, funk, jazz and Latin fusion outfit Banda Banda and the Crocodiles will play at three venues. WHEN & WHERE April?29 at 6pm at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music; April 30 at Mdepha High School in Cato Ridge; and May 1 at Seaman’s Corner in Hammarsdale. INFO Tickets range from R20 to R50 at the door.

• The Michaelhouse Festival brings the sound of music to the Midlands when more than 500 world-class performers entertain audiences with seven acts over three days. Conducted by Richard Cock, the creative director of the event, the festival will include the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, Platform Jazz and Nibs van der Spuy. Picnics by arrangement and light meals will be available on Saturday, April 25 at the festival fair. WHEN April 24 to April 26. WHERE Michaelhouse, Balgowan. INFO Tickets cost R120 from webtickets.co.za

• The KwaZulu-Natal department of arts and culture will host the Awesome Africa International Arts Festival, which features world-renowned performers across a number of genres. The festival kicks off with a gala concert at the Playhouse on Sunday, April?26 from 5pm followed by the Mandeni jazz festival on Monday, April?27 from 11am. Headlining the festival is Salif Keita and his 13-piece band from Dakar and Khuli Chana in collaboration with five-piece musical collective Muzart. The Freedom Suite collaboration, performing at both venues, brings together Ray Phiri with N’Faly Kouyaté from Guinea. Other artists include Réunion Island maloya star Christine Salem, guitarists Nibs van der Spuy and Guy Buttery, maskandi duo David Qadasi Jenkins and Maqhinga Radebe, and Steve Fataar who will play with guitarist Errol Dyers. Pride of the Zulu a cappella group will also perform. WHEN April 27. WHERE Sibusisiwe Community Hall and loveLife Centre in Mandeni. INFO Tickets for the Playhouse and Mandeni events are R150 a person from computicket.co.za and Shoprite Checkers. Tickets will also be available at the door. Visit awesomefestivals.com or call Gabi on 081?419?4509.

CAPE TOWN

• The Pot Luck Club will pop up at Publik wine bar. Head chef Wesley Randles will dish up delicious street food: think yakitori pork neck and wild boar served with chipotle crème fraîche. WHEN April?25. WHERE Publik wine bar (inside Frankie Fenner), 81 Church Street.

• Dominique Edwards’s solo exhibition, titled Buikspraak/Gutspeak, explores “visceral signals that bypass the brain and point instead to a phenomenology of presence and embodied cognition”. Edwards traverses the spaces between the two “languages” – the gut brain and the thinking brain – both of which are of the body yet respond to different sensory inputs and have different feedback mechanisms. The exhibition uses traditional and unconventional materials such as pulped mops and tumble dryer lint transformed into paper. WHEN April 23 until May?20. WHERE Commune.1, 64 Wale Street.