Africa is known for a lot of things, most 
notably its wildlife, but it’s also jam-packed with festivals, from local festivals highlighting culture, tradition and religion to international film festivals. Africa is an enormous continent with over 50 countries, so it stands to reason that the number of festivals is simply too vast for one blog post. Instead we’ll take a look at some of the upcoming festivals for March 2011, and take it from there.
Let’s start with the Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO). FESPACO is held in Burkina Faso every two years and is regarded by many as the cultural event in Africa. This year it runs from 26 February to 5 March and promises to be bigger and better than ever.
The theme for 2011 is African Cinema and Markets, which is very apt considering it provides an enormous platform for directors, producers, actors and writers, etc., with the opportunity to network, hobnob and learn from their peers. The festival’s main initiatives include: promoting the African film market, publishing news on African cinema, screening films in rural areas and promoting African cinema in international markets.
See the press kit for more information.
Moving on to the Cape Town Pride Festival 2011, which is one of the biggest of its kind in the world. This year the festival will take place from 24 February to 6 March and kicks off with the Pride Film Premiere. There is a book fair on 2 March at Kalk Bay Books; the Pride Parade is on 5 March; and it all ends with Cape Town Pride Seminar. The theme for 2011 is Love our Diversity and profits from the event will be donated to the Pride Shelter Trust.
Visit the Cape Town Pride website for more details.
Staying in Cape Town we have the simply named Cape Town Festival which runs from 18 – 21 March. The theme is Celebrating our Cultural Diversity to Connect and Unite Cape Town. A number of popular South African artists will perform, including Judith Sephuma, Jesse Clegg, the Dirty Skirts, the Glenn Robertson Jazz Band, the Delft Youth Big Band and the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. The grand finale coincides with Human Rights Day and will include an address by the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Dan Plato.
The bulk of the celebrations will take place in the Company’s Gardens, but the Community Festivals will be held at Voorbrug Sports Field, Atlantis Senior Secondary School, I.D. Mkhize High School, and Milnerton Primary School.
Visit the Cape Town Festival website for more information.
(image by See-ming Lee, via Wikimedia Commons)
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
