Cape Town gets ready for annual Jazz Festival

Earth Wind and Fire are among the 40 bands due to play Cape Town’s 12th annual International Jazz Festival this weekend.

The South African city of Cape Town will be alive with music this weekend, as the 12th annual international Jazz Festival gets underway.

Last year’s two-day festival attracted 34,000 jazz enthusiasts to the Rainbow Nation, with many arriving on flights to South Africa from all corners of the globe.

This year, the country’s president Jacob Zuma has given the music festival his official backing, mentioning it in his annual state of the nation address.

The line-up includes a host of stellar musicians from within South Africa, as well as renowned international acts such as Earth Wind and Fire, David Koz and Hugh Masekela.

A total of 40 bands will perform over two days starting on Friday (March 25th), as well as a series of ‘concept bands’ put together by the festival organisers specifically for the event.

Rashid Lombard, the festival’s director, said: “Concept bands make the festival unique. People have the opportunity to see bands that they are unlikely to see again in their lifetime.”

Weekend passes to the Cape Town International Jazz Festival are sold out, but music-lovers can still get day tickets online for R365 (£32) each.

Written by Anthony Nicholson