Most people aren’t too keen for a holiday in Joburg because the buzzing city had a reputation for being fast-paced and all about money, partying and work.
While this is mostly true — Jozi has a serious work-life and a never-sleeping nightlife — the city also offers its visitors an exemplary opportunity to enjoy some cultural experiences.
Check out the Market on Main held every Sunday from 10am to 3pm at Arts on Main. This market is Joburg’s new food and design market and features speciality stalls selling food, lifestyle and design products, local farm goods, seasonal items, gourmet goods, flowers, plants and herbs, private brewery beer and organic produce. Who said only Cape Tonians knew how to live a rustic life? Arts on Main is at the corner of Fox and Berea streets on the edge of the CBD.
The Parktown & Westcliff Heritage Trust will take a walking tour of La Rochelle on Saturday 22 January and invites anyone to join them. La Rochelle, originally called Little Portugal and now called mini Mozambique, is a suburb originally home to miners and horseracing fanatics at Turffontein.
The tour will take you into some of the special homes, an age-old convent (note the interesting architecture), and a police station (it became a beer hall and is now a famous restaurant). Tickets are R80 each from Computicket. Meet at 2pm at the Catholic Bible College, 135th Street, La Rochelle.
Winner of the Best Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival 2010, The Cradock Four, will be showing at The Bioscope on Friday and Saturday 21-22 January at 8pm. Tickets are R35 each.
The French Flea market might make you feel a little worldier. Catch the buzz at Alliance Francaise on Saturday 22 January from 10am. There will be bric a brac, clothing, books, vintage clothing and more. Jazz Manouche and Hot Club d’Afrique will entertain viewers from 5pm with some soulful dounds. Alliance Francaise is on the corner of Kerry Road and Lower Park Drive in Parkview.
Those of you who are devout animal-lovers will like this: Joburg Zoo has a new baby giraffe. Other new-borns include a flamingo and an Nguni calf, but most people are attracted to the long-legged, acacia-tree eating new addition. The zoo is open Mondays to Sundays from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. Entrance is R50 for adults, R30 for kids.
So while Joburg may have a reputation for being all about the hard work and harder play, there are always some excellent shows to see, markets to browse through and baby giraffes to meet.
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.
