Exploring new horizons. Photo courtesy Chris Bloomfield

The ABSA Cape Epic takes place during the last week of March or the first week of April each year. This year the event will be hosted from March 21 to 28, 2010. It is the largest mountain bike stage race in the world, taking place over eight stages with the riders receiving food, water and energy drinks at the various feed zones during the race stages.

Held over eight days, the route for the ABSA Cape Epic changes each year, but consistently covers 800km, winding its way through the most beautiful natural areas in the Western Cape, with some 16 000m of the route over mountain passes. 

Race registration will take place in Cape Town on March 20, 2010, with the race starting at Diemersfontein, going to Ceres, Worcester, Oak Valley and finishing in Lourensford. 

A requirement of the Cape Epic is that all riders must enter in teams of two. The teams must remain together throughout the race as they must reach each day’s finish line, at 17h00, as a team. Teams can enter in one of four categories: Men, Ladies, Mixed and Masters The winners on each day will cycle the next race stage wearing the leader jerseys. 

The ABSA Cape Epic is not only viewed as a sporting event by participants, but as a travel experience. The race organisers offer participants a 24-hour service during the race, which includes tented accommodation, carbo-loaded breakfasts and dinners, race nutrition, bike servicing, masseurs and entertainment on every evening of the race. 

How can you get involved? 

• Kit out, chin up and start training for next year’s ABSA Cape Epic Cycle Race.  The race register for next year will open on the website, http://www.cape-epic.com, on March 29, 2010. 
• Try the Epic Trippers,  a much shorter bike route, including a picnic lunch stop along the way and hotel accommodation.. 
• Enter one of the one-day races. The Wilde Cellar to Cellar Mountain Bike Race is a brand-new addition to the Epic event calendar. This one-day mountain biking race starts on the first day of the Cape Epic on March 21, 2010, at 09h30, covering 40km from Diemersfontein Wine & Country Estate, through Wellington, and ending at Doolhof Wine Estate; it coincides with the Wellington Harvest Festival.  You can enter online on the ABSA Cape Epic website before March 18, 2010.
• The MTN Cape Times Vigne à Vigne one-day race takes place on Sunday, March 28, 2010, on the last day of the Cape Epic. The race will start and end at Lourensford Wine Estate, mirroring the final stage of the Cape Epic and entrants can choose between 26km or 55km routes.  Both routes will see participants finishing well in time to see the winners of the Cape Epic cross the finishing line. Enter online at http://www.vigne-a-vigne.com before 12h00 on March 19, 2010. 
• Head to Lourensford Wine Estate on March 28, 2010, to listen to SA band Watershed who will be performing at 12h30. 

Visit the ABSA Cape Epic web-site http://www.cape-epic.com for more information on this amazing event. 

School children from around Cape Town perform a diski dance outside Cape Town Stadium. Photo by Roy Barford

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 marked 100 days to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ kick-off, and Cape Town is celebrating in style. The morning started with a group of proud Capetonians walking the 2.6km fan mile route to Cape Town Stadium from St. Georges Mall. They then went for a trip around town on a City Sightseeing Bus.

After a breakfast held at Cape Town Stadium on March 1, 2010, marking the start of an official FIFA tour around South Africa to visit all the stadiums, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke stated that it was the first stadium they had visited that was perfect; from the architecture, infrastructure and facilities, to the pitch.

Working with the Department of Sports and Recreation, and Gymnastics for All, Cape Town Tourism staged a diski dance featuring 570 children between six and 16 years old, from Khayelitsha, Atlantis, Mitchells Plain and Somerset West, among others. Executive mayor, Alderman Dan Plato, welcomed journalists, stakeholders and the children to the event held at the Cape Town Stadium.

Here’s how you can Live it. Love it. LOUDER! on 100 Days to Kick-off and beyond:

• Fly the South African flag, sing our national anthem and back our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana! Wear your soccer shirt or jersey on Soccer Fridays and blow your vuvuzela.
• Get a dose of football fever by being part of the signing of the Hyundai Goodwill Ball at Canal Walk Shopping Centre on Friday, March 5, 2010, at 11h00 and Cape Gate Shopping Centre on Saturday March 6, 2010. The giant ball has finally rolled into Cape Town bearing the signatures and messages of goodwill from famous South Africans, such as Loyiso Bala, Emmanuel Castis, Roland Schoeman, Hlubi Mboya and Vanessa Haywood. Members of the public are invited to attend the signing of the Goodwill Ball in their coolest soccer kit and those soccer fans who live it LOUDEST at 12h00 on the day, will be in the running to win a set of double tickets to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
• Be inspired by Cape Town Tourism’s 100 Days to Kick-off event and learn the steps to the diski dance.
• Go on a guided tour of Cape Town Stadium. Tours are scheduled for 10h00, 12h00 and 14h00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and the cost is R50 for adult,s R30 for students and pensioners and R20 for scholars in uniform and children under the age of 12.  Please contact Tharwat Adams on 021 430 7300 or via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to make a booking.
 

Design Indaba 2008, photo courtesy Sebastian Denef

In a month dedicated to design on Time Out Tourist, we end February 2010 with a question. When was the last time you were moved by a truly great design? And yes, the design of your golf course counts, as does that fabulous wire art piece you bought for your home. Good design makes our lives easier, more comfortable, more beautiful and often, our experiences more enriching.

The Design Indaba is a 100% proudly South African event that celebrates the ingrained creativity of our people. The Design Indaba Conference, an event attended by leaders from the creative, corporate and education sectors, has been sold out for the past five years. This is again the case in 2010.

The Design Indaba Exhibition follows the conference and there will be more than 260 exhibitors at the event, which takes place from February 26 to 28, 2010, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. A diverse group of people, from sectors including advertising, architecture, décor, film, fashion, product design and jewellery design, will be exhibiting. All exhibitors have been evaluated and endorsed by a panel of South African design experts, which includes designers, stylists and industry professionals.

Stop by the Design Indaba Expo this weekend to take in:

Design Indaba 2008, photo courtesy Sebastian Denef

• All-day fashion shows by some of the country’s leading designers – such as Craig Native and Stiaan Louw – which will take place in the event arena. View the full programme online at the Design Indaba’s website, and look out for performances from local acts such as Taxi Violence, Polisiekar and Van Coke Cartel.
• South Africa’s best short films, which will be shown at the event arena between fashion shows.
• The Restaurant, where a number of the country’s top chefs will be putting together “designer” baguettes. A percentage of the proceeds will be put toward the Design Indaba Trust/Foodcorp chef development fund.
• The Grolsch bar, which promises to be a trendy relaxation area.
• The Let it Out campaign, an opportunity for South Africans to express their creativity online.
• The DSTV Design for Kids Workshops, for children to get a head-start on their creative impulses.

The Design Indaba will be open from 10h00 until 20h00 on Friday February 26 and Saturday February 27, and from 10h00 until 18h00 on Sunday February 28. Ticket prices are R50 for adults, R30 for students and pensioners, and R20 for scholars in uniform and children under the age of 12. Visit http://www.designindaba.com for the full programme and further details on the various other projects that make up this annual event.

For more creative inspiration, stop by a Cape Town Tourism visitor information centre and pick up a copy of the Design Route Map, which features 62 Western Cape-based designers and design studios. Cape Town Tourism is proud to be a partner in the Cape Town Design Route, to showcase the expression and creativity of our locals, from Kloof Street to Khayelitsha.

Infecting the City 2009, photo courtesy Yasser Boodley

Infecting the City, or the Spier Public Arts Festival, is taking place in Cape Town for the third year, in February.  The theme for 2010 is Human Rites and the idea behind the concept “Infecting the City” is that of infectious enthusiasm, laughter or empathy. The organisers want people to be infected with energy, colour, excitement and surprise at having public art in inner-city spaces, where they may not have noticed it before.

Public art is work designed to be staged in a public space, generally outdoors, and accessible to a wide audience. For the art world, this often signifies ties with work that is site-specific, involves the local community and, in some instances, even sees community members collaborating on the project. 

This year’s event was launched on February 13, 2010, and will continue until February 20. It is presented by Africa Centre, a non-profit organisation that aims to create a platform for Pan-African art to act as a driver of social change. The African Centre is also responsible for the Badilisha! Poetry X-Change, Pan African Space Station music event and Spier Contemporary. Through programmes such as these, they hope to celebrate African heritage, create new models for presenting art in an accessible manner and re-examine the creation, identity and role of art. 

The art forms on view for Infecting the City range from performance art and dance, to interactive installations and debates. Artists are local or from Johannesburg, Grahamstown, Zimbabwe, China, the USA or Greece. As a site-specific festival, all artworks relate directly to the festival’s location – the Mother City – under the theme, Human Rites. It asks questions such as: “what are the dynamics of our society?” and “what kind of society do we wish to live in?” 

This is your opportunity to peer into the heads and hearts of artists in Cape Town. All performances, except for the production, Talking Heads, are free. Some productions and performances on offer include:

• The Wishing Wall, a huge collage of wishes, opinions and photos from the people of Cape Town
• Mandala for Healing, which creates a sacred site or mandala (a Sanskrit word meaning, among others, completion) where earth is brought from sites in and around Cape Town where human rights violations have occurred. Bring earth from a site that reminds you of a trauma or loss to the mandala in St Georges Cathedral to start the healing process
• Jump your cares away on a queen-sized bed, which has made its way through the Mother City with an open invitation to Capetonians to join the likes of Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, Kalk Bay fishermen or housekeepers from the Mount Nelson Hotel, who have jumped on the bed over the past few weeks
• Grey Matter, which could see a silent flash mob of 27 people appear near you in the streets of Cape Town. Feel the shift in spatial and social dynamics their appearance brings

For more information on Infecting the City, other productions and an event schedule, visit www.infectingthecity.com, or a Cape Town Tourism visitor information centre near you, where you can collect an Infecting the City brochure and schedule.

Buy your sweetheart flowers from the Adderley Street flower sellers. Photo courtesy Thomas Berg

This Valentine’s Day we unearth a centuries-old African symbol for love, re-visit the origins of the day and celebrate love in the Mother City. Valentine’s Day, named after one of the early Christian martyrs, Valentine, was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496AD. The association with romantic love reportedly started in the 11th to 13th centuries with the rise of “courtly love”, which involved chivalrously expressing your admiration. This practice was established when sending Valentine’s cards became fashionable in the 19th century.

Today, Valentine’s Day is still associated with expressing admiration for that special someone, be it a public or secret declaration. The Mother City sets the scene for the perfect romantic day, with plenty of places to pick up a gift of chocolate or jewellery and that perfect bunch of flowers, a romantic stroll along Mouille Point promenade and a candlelight dinner at one of the city’s excellent restaurants. 

Glenda Bowman, who has been selling flowers at the Adderley Street Flower Market for 30 years, told us that the most popular flowers for Valentine’s Day are red roses, but, a colourful floral bouquet is also a top choice, along with a bunch of lilies. Whitburn Florist has been operating on Green Market Square for 51 years and owner Tessa cites Valentine’s Day as one of its busiest days, with roses being the favourite purchase, and 80% of roses sold being red. 

Speaking of symbols of love, in West Africa, the Adinkra symbol for love shows the North Star, a woman, awaiting the return of her lover, represented by a crescent moon. Traditionally, this symbol was printed on high-quality cloth that had been hand-embroidered. Many of us have no doubt walked past sarongs, shirts or even jewellery on Green Market Square, or at St. Georges Mall, which displays this symbol, without realising its significance. 

Take advantage of the Sunset Special offer with a romantic ascent to the top of Table Mountain with the aerial cableway. Photo courtesy Tara Turkington

Robben Island Museum may not be quite what Capetonians or visitors think of when considering where to take their wedding vows, but it is the venue of choice of couples who will tie the knot there on February 14, 2010. Every year, the island plays host to a mass wedding on Valentine’s Day, with 25 couples pledging their love last year. The event is fast becoming a tradition, with love-struck couples from Germany, the UK and USA joining South Africans in taking their vows, after obtaining special permission from the Department of Home Affairs. 

Should your imagination, or your wallet, be failing you, leading up to the most romantic day of the year, we’d like to inspire you with the following suggestions:

• Take advantage of the Sunset Special offer with a romantic ascent to the top of Table Mountain with the aerial cableway, and pay half-price for your ticket. Sip Cap Classique wines on the summit, or enjoy a view of the city while you sample the Table Mountain Café’s special Valentine’s menu.
• Marvel at southern hemisphere stars during a lecture at the SA Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town on Saturday, February 13.  Entrance is free, but a small donation would be welcome.
• Head off to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden with a picnic basket and blanket for the Sunset Summer Concert on Sunday, February 14, to see pop group Jamali & Friends. Tickets are R65 per person.
• Book your tickets now for Viaje Flamenco, performed by the La Rosa Dance Theatre at the Artscape, from February 17 to 21. A history of the passionate flamenco, this production is now in its 20th year. Ticket prices range from R95 to R125 and can be booked at Computicket or the Artscape Box Office.

For more creative ideas on what to do this Valentine’s Day, visit our website http://www.capetown.travel, which includes a special section with Valentine’s Day offers tailored to your pocket. If you’re still looking for inspiration, read our blog featuring last year’s great Cape Town Love Stories competition winners.

High fashion at the J&B Met

January ended on a high note in the summer heat, with the pounding hooves, high fashion and glamour of the J&B Met on Saturday, January 30, 2010. In February we celebrate Cape Town as a creative African hub and acknowledge innovative design in the Mother City.

We can look forward to exciting events such as Infecting the City, also known as the Spier Performing Arts Festival; the Design Indaba Exhibition and the launch of the Design Route Map, of which Cape Town Tourism is a proud partner. Themes such as Human Rites for the Performing Arts Festival and Creating a Better World by Design for the Design Indaba, allow us to look at design hot spots in Cape Town, recognising projects that use design and craft to create a better world. In addition, Cape Town is currently bidding to be elected as World Design City by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design in 2014.

The 10x10 Low Cost Housing Project, as part of the Design Indaba, sees 10 architectural teams, made up of South Africans paired with leading international experts, rise to the challenge to devise affordable and attractive solutions to low-cost housing. Sustainable design and construction principles are encouraged. 

Moving on from building homes to building lives, the Streetwires project started in 2000 and pays homage to wire and bead craft. This Proudly South African project provides training, support and raw materials to 100 formerly unemployed men and women, giving them the opportunity to express their creativity, while earning a living.

Visit the Streetwires Shop and studio at 77 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, or pick up your wire art piece from a Pick n Pay, Africa Nova or @Home Living Space near you.

Visit these proudly Capetonian attractions that celebrate local craft:

• Red Shed Craft Market at the V&A Waterfront
• Imagenius on Long Street
• The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock for Heartworks products, photos and vintage design finds
• Imiso Lifestyle at Cape Quarter
• Artvark and the Kalk Bay Modern in Kalk Bay
• Rust-en-Vrede gallery, a clay museum and arts centre in Durbanville

Photo courtesy michielvw

Get into gear with the event of the year! The Cape Argus Cycle Tour is ready to welcome thousands of cyclists from across the globe to experience and endure the “mother” of all races!

Some historical titbits about the tour:

• The race, then known as the Peninsula Marathon, started in 1977 and is now in its 33rd year!
• In 1978 the Peninsula Marathon became the Argus Cycle Tour when Cape Town’s largest newspaper, The Argus, agreed to sponsor the race.
• In the new millennium, Pedal Power Association and the Rotary Club of Claremont joined forces to establish the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust. An event office was established to run the tour, which was rebranded with a new look and new logo.
• In 2002, for the first time in history, the tour had to be stopped. Weather predictions for the day had been “fine and warm”, with a maximum temperature of 28°C, but temperatures of 42°C were recorded on parts of the course.
• Last year, 2009, presented a number of challenges, including howling winds that blew fences over and ripped banners to shreds. Of the 30 000 race entrants, only 27 000 were recorded as completing the race. The 2009 tour was won by Aaron Brown in a time of 2:46:32, while Jennie Stenerhag pedalled it up for the ladies in a time of 03:06:01.

Cape Argus Cycle Tour FAQs:

• When will the 2010 Cycle Tour be held?  On Sunday, March 14.
• What are the entry fees? If you are a member of a cycling club or association affiliated to Cycling South Africa, the entry fee is R260. If you are a valid PPA member you receive a R30 discount and your entry fee is R230. If you do not belong to either a club or association affiliated to Cycling South Africa, then your entry fee is R295. This includes the cost of a “One day event licence”. International entrants pay R450 and African entrants pay R300.
• What route does the cycle tour follow? The start is in the city centre, outside the Civic Centre. You then travel along the M3 to Lakeside where you will be diverted on to Boyes Drive. You will then rejoin the Main Road at Kalk Bay, after a steep descent from Boyes Drive. From there you take the coastal road to Simon’s Town and then pass the entrance to the Cape Point Nature Reserve. You then continue to Scarborough and on to Ocean View, missing the Kommetjie Hill. Then it’s Chapman’s Peak and up Suikerbossie and along the coast to Green Point. Please note it is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the route. Much of the route is open to traffic on the day; you are warned to keep to the left of the road and not cross the centre line at any time and to obey the traffic officers and authorised race marshals. Participants other than those in the leading groups may be required to stop at certain intersections.

For all other queries and information, please have a look at the Cape Argus Cycle Tour website, www.cycletour.co.za, or contact Cape Town Tourism, also a proud sponsor of this annual event, on +27 (21) 487 6800, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or visit www.capetown.travel.

Other cycling tour dates to diarise:

• March 6 & 7: Cape Argus Pick n Pay Mountain Bike Challenge
• March 11: Cape Argus Lifecycle Expo and Cycle Tour Registration
• March 12: Cape Argus Lifecycle Expo and Cycle Tour Registration
• March 13: Cape Argus Pick n Pay Tricycle Tour
• March 13: Cape Argus Pick n Pay Junior Tour

The Aqua Festival at the V&A Waterfront

Paris is known internationally as the “City of Lights” and although Cape Town cannot rival gay Paris in terms of the sheer number of lights, the Mother City is bathed in a special glow of its own at this time of year.

While the northern hemisphere wraps up warmly, treads through snow in degrees below freezing point and starts stuffing the turkey, we in the south prepare for an entirely different festive season altogether.

Capetonians spend our days on the city’s beaches, do Christmas shopping in air-conditioned shopping malls or open-air markets, and dish up wonderful salads, cold meats and classic Christmas desserts like trifle before we see in the New Year at beach parties and outdoor events.

This week we look at events taking place during the season to be jolly, including the fabulous Mother City Queer Project and New Year’s Eve celebrations for those Capetonians and visitors who haven’t made plans yet.

• The whole family can enjoy Carols by Candlelight at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden from December 17-20 2009. What better way to get in a festive mood than enjoying traditional Christmas carols accompanied by the Cape Town Concert Brass Band and the Cape Town Male Voice Choir in the pristine setting of Kirstenbosch?
  
  The Cape Town Male Voice Choir, a voluntary, community-based association that has been in operation for 29 years, currently comprises 40 members. The Cape Town Concert Brass Band, a collection of amateur musicians, plays classical music, jazz and popular themes, and boasts band members that are engineers, pharmacists and a surgeon by day, to name but a few.
  
  All Carols by Candlelight visitors will receive a candle and song sheet on arrival. Gates open at 17h00 and the carols begin at 20h00. The cost is R50 per adult and R30 per scholar. For more information, visit http://www.oldmutual.co.za/about-us/sponsorship/arts-and-lifestyle/kirstenbosch-concerts/artists/carols-by-candlelight.aspx.
• The Aqua Festival is a celebration of music, movement and summertime at the V&A Waterfront from December 15 2009 to January 6 2010, brought to you by Hunta Live. The festival is set on a floating aquatic stage in the V&A harbour with Table Mountain as its backdrop. The entertainment line-up includes the 53-piece Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Town City Ballet, performers Freshlyground and the Parlotones and jazz icons Judith Sephuma and Robbie Jansen, to name but a few.
  
  First on the line-up is the H2Opera, conducted by Richard Cook, from December 15-17 2009. The show features the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and stars such as Brad Cooper from Australia and South Africa’s own Otto Maidi and Pretty Yende. They will be delighting the crowds with arias from popular operas. Ticket prices start at R190 per person. For more information, visit http://www.aquafestival.com.


Enjoy Carols by Candlelight at the beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens. Photo courtesy Chris Freeland

• The Mother City Queer Project is taking place at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock on December 19 2009. This event has become a must-do on the annual events calendar for Capetonians, gay and straight alike. It is always a truly fabulous party and, with the theme of “Toolbox Project”, no fewer than nine bars, a champagne bar, four dance floors, a food court and live entertainment by Flash Republic, the Drag Divas and the Dean FUEL Show, this year promises to be no different!
• New Year’s Eve
  
  Go for a Muizenberg Moonlight Meander, a guided walk in the moonlight with music, dancing and drumming, from 18h00 until 23h00. Participants are encouraged to dress up. Restaurants will be open or you can take a picnic basket. Please send all enquiries to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
  
  94.5KFM and Drostdy Hof New Year’s Eve Concert will showcase the talents of Loyiso Bala, Flat Stanley, Chad Saaiman, Loading Zone and DJ Denver Apollus at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Tickets are available through Web Tickets at a cost of R220.

Be sure to pencil these dates into the precious little space you have left in your 2009 diary and see in 2010 in fabulous, truly Capetonian Live it. Love it. LOUDER! style.

For more information on these and other events, visit www.capetown.travel.

Fun at the Final Draw

Cape Town’s counting the days to World Cup kickoff, after a fantastic Final Draw on December 4 which had 55 000 people partying in Long Street while stars and dignitaries packed the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Visit Cape Town Tourism’s special 2010 mini-website to spot yourself or your friends in our image gallery or to catch the match schedule and latest news at www.capetown.travel/2010.

But Cape Town kids are also counting the days, as schools break up this week for a five-week summer holiday. Here are some suggestions for activities and experiences to keep them happy:

• Artjamming at Wembley Square offers you a canvas, paint on tap and tools to create your very own masterpiece. A lot of enthusiasm but very little experience is required!
• The Iziko South African Museum & Planetarium has special exhibitions for children, like the Whale Well, African Dinosaurs, Shark World, Rock Art and Fossil Stories.
• Visit the Two Oceans Aquarium for oceans of fun, and nurture a future Einstein at the MTN Sciencentre at Canal Walk Shopping Centre.
• Visit The Millstone Farmstall & Café at Oude Molen Eco Village in Pinelands for horse rides, meeting Milly May the piglet, and fresh, organic produce.
• From Milly May the piglet to Gerry the giraffe at Giraffe House in Stellenbosch. There are many other African animals to see there as a lesson about our rich African wildlife heritage. Daily animal encounters take place at 11h00, 13h00 and 15h00.
• The Barnyard Restaurant in Tokai is a wonderful family venue with a wide range of outdoor play activities and a petting zoo – and it’s not far from the Constantia winelands, for mom and dad.
• For the adventurer in your child, Ratanga Junction in Century City and the Cool Runnings Toboggan Family Park in Tygervalley are ideal.


Kids had a blast at the Final Draw

• And if your wish is for your children just to be children, use their imagination, enjoy themselves and use up some energy in Cape Town’s many outdoor spots:
  
  Family-friendly beaches include Boulders Beach, Glen Beach (a very toddler-friendly beach close to Camps Bay and Clifton), Small Bay in Blouberg (a refuge from the south-easter), St James tidal pool, Fish Hoek Beach, Long Beach Noordhoek and Strand or Gordon’s Bay for warm water, fewer waves and play equipment.
  
  Parks and playgrounds like Rocklands or Deer Park in Vredehoek, Keurboom Park in Rondebosch, the Lighthouse Playground in Mouille Point, Sonstraal Park in Durbanville or Squirrel Lane in the Company’s Gardens.
  
  Take a mild family hike at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, Table Mountain, the Pipe Track, Newlands Forest or the Silvermine Dams.

And in the words from Baz Luhrmann’s song, “if we could offer you one piece of advice – sunscreen would be it!”

For this and more school holidays information, pick up the informative Cape Town Kids Map 2010 and Visitors Guide 2010 at any Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Centre. Find all 18 VICs and some holiday hints at www.capetown.travel.

The stage for the Final Draw festivities in Long Street, photo courtesy Ernie Joseph

We are picking up this week where we left off last week – with a countdown! With the Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup only days away, Cape Town has caught soccer fever. The Mother City is clad in soccer gear, with flags, banners and gigantic soccer balls in place to welcome visitors and to inspire Capetonians for the Final Draw of the first FIFA World Cup in Africa.

The excitement was palpable at the switching on of the festive lights in Adderley Street on November 29. The traditional festive lights had a soccer theme this year and were a kaleidoscope of colour to symbolise that Cape Town is ready to welcome the world. Cape Town Tourism hosted a diski dance lesson in the “soccer zone”, where Capetonians again showed their natural rhythm and blew their vuvuzelas. Live it. Love it. LOUDER!? You have never heard loud quite like this before! Remember, though, that loud is not just noise; it’s about bright colours, enthusiasm, showing your support for Bafana Bafana and boldly expressing what makes us uniquely Capetonian – and proudly so.

Our team stood by as Ajax Cape Town settled in for an autograph session, making the moon and stars seem within reach of the children queuing excitedly to meet them. Soccer player Matthew Booth probably only had to stand on tiptoe and he could have reached the universe for them!

We’ll take a look now at the events leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw and how visitors and Capetonians can Live it. Love it. LOUDER!

Learning the diski dance at the switching on of the festive lights in Adderley Street

• Visit the Fields of Play exhibition at the District Six Museum, which re-opens on December 3, and discover the history of soccer in Cape Town – from the very first game played on the Green Point Common in 1862, the tumultuous times during the apartheid era and the current state of the game.
• Support a five-a-side soccer match at the Sony Fevapitch Finals taking place at the V&A Waterfront on December 5 from 10h00 until 21h00.
• The big event, of course, is the Final Draw and Long Street Party on December 4. Now, what is the fuss about? The Final Draw will determine where and against whom the 32 teams that qualified will be playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw will be broadcast live to an estimated audience of 150-million viewers in 200 countries!
  
  Capetonians will get their first taste of next year’s FIFA World Cup Fan Fests concept when the entire upper Long Street – from Dorp Street to Buitensingel – is converted into a festival zone for the Final Draw on Friday, December 4. As many as 15 000 revellers are expected to turn out for the event.
  
  The Fan Fest launch is set to take place at 14h00 on Long Street. A live crossing to the Cape Town International Convention Centre for the Final Draw will take place from 19h00 until 20h30. Guests can look forward to programme highlights that include cultural performers, fusion band Coda, Flat Stanley, TKZee, Freshlyground, Casette and Jimmy Dludlu. Other entertainment will include stilt walkers, Malian puppets and fire dancers!
  
  Proceedings kick off at 12h00 and are expected to carry on well into midnight, after which the programme should wind down. To view the full programme, visit http://www.capetown.travel/2010.
• If you want to make a change while you make a noise, take note of the opening of the Football for Hope Centre in Khayelitsha on December 5. The Football for Hope Festival is a FIFA initiative, set to run during the second half of the month-long 2010 FIFA World Cup, that aims to promote social change through soccer. Football for Hope centres will be opened across Africa to combine sport, health and educational facilities. It’s a worthy cause to highlight as we support World AIDS Day today (December 1).