PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The popular Plett Arts Festival got off to a successful start over the weekend with local and international visitors enjoying the finer things in life.
"The Plett Arts Festival was off to a fantastic start. In particular, the Plett Arts Twilight Meander in Main Street was very well supported by Plett locals, Knysna visitors and internationals from Israel, the Netherlands and the UK," said Plett Tourism chief executive Patty Butterworth.
The theme of the ninth annual festival, which kicked off on Friday 30 September and runs until 9 October, is "Connect" - encouraging festinos to connect with nature, the elements, the artists, performers and one another.
Over its nine-year run, the Plett Arts Festival has become known for bringing unique and proudly Plett concepts to the table.
Organisers and visitors are not the only ones raving about the festival. Legendary print maker John Moore, who presents printmaking workshops at Paperworks Melville's Corner, said the first course was a great success.
"Excellent art was produced and all artists are energised," Moore said.
Visitors still have many treats to look forward to, including "art in nature" concerts and the popular concept from last year, land art. Organisers said they are thrilled to continue this theme by offering the Plett Arts Festival Connect Land Art Route for visitors to enjoy.
The festival kicked off with the Twilight Meander, a celebratory opening to the festivities and the arts culture in Main Street. From the Dolphin Circle to the Whale Wire Sculpture, galleries, pop-ups, restaurant spaces and the street itself - the area became alive.
Another favourite to look forward to is the Plett Food and Film Festival, called "A Night of Kalahari Enchantment" at the White House Theatre this evening, Thursday 6 October. Twenty years before he won an Academy Award for My Octopus Teacher, Craig Foster and his brother David made a documentation of the spiritual synergy and symbiosis of natural beings, as lived out by the San in the Kalahari. It is called The Great Dance, a Hunter's Story.
Paired with this film and performers, Nguni Restaurant is set to conjure up a meal inspired by the Kalahari and flavoured with wild edibles. Dizu Plaatjies of Amampondo fame, an instrumentalist on Kora and traditional percussion and string instruments, will also enthrall festinos while Plett resident Vanessa Brewer will lead a guided tasting of urban-foraged edible roots, leaves and other unexpected delectables.
This year's performances in nature include Bronze Fields Forest Sessions, The Collectiv at Boskey Dell Farm & Rose Garden, Street Soccer and Music at Lehae TshisaNyama, and, live from the rooftop of Afro-centric, King Melisizwe will be broadcasting his show, SmallTown TiVi.
For more information and a full programme, visit www.pletttourism.co.za
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