Local and International Performers Set to Thrill at The Cape Town Buskers Festival

The second Cape Town Buskers Festival adds a colourful exclamation mark to the Cape Town Fringe when it springs to life this week. An array of local and international performers will be wowing the crowds at the V&A Waterfront, the host venue of the Festival.

Local buskers auditioned for the Festival either in person or online. The buskers who were selected for this year's Festival include a line-up of several singer-guitarists, namely Mazula, Al Petersen, Kathryn Swain, Dylan Farred, Micaela Kleinsmill, Paulo Coster, Brandon Sundae, Roxy and Alanna Joy.

Marimba bands will be another staple at the Buskers Festival, with featured acts including Hlanganani Marimba and Alta du Toit. Abikondela Marimba combines other instruments with the popular percussion instrument's idiophonic tones, while Siyabuya Marimba mixes it up with opera.

Two brass bands, Street Kings and Reinhardt Buhr, will also be on the scene, as will an acapella singing group, AnecNote, and two singing and dancing groups, Siyazama Cultural and Major Voices. Other music acts include Jo and the Ganga Muffins, Didi and Julz, Chico Muya, Patrick and Patricia, Mmino/Hajo, Joanne Cooper and Lebz, Angela Stuurman, AJ the Duo and Zen Viljoen.

Adding further variety to the mix are Nku-Magic/Nkombuzo, who performs a magic act; Shifu Xiong, with Kung Fu-based performance; Cape Town Freestyle, a group of soccer ball freestylers; and Showman Entertainment, which offers circus acrobatics and break dancing.

Finally, the Brandvlei Stofskoppers, a riel dans troupe from the Northern Cape will astound passers-by with their dance and fancy footwork. The eight learners in the troupe and their guardian have had their travel and accommodation sponsored by Square Kilometer Array (SKA) South Africa.

There are four international buskers to be seen at the Festival. The Shandy South Show, from the United Kingdom, offers a highly visual, slick, sophisticated and funky fusion of street dance, mime and improvisational comedy. Canada's Sharon Mahoney is a typically polite, patriotic, apologetic and extremely passive-aggressive Canadian who transforms into her more direct and domineering libertine counterpart, Miss Tallulah. Spanish act Thelmo Parole is a romantic warrior buffoon who combines classic cabaret clowning, circus and comedy with razor-sharp aesthetics. Finally, Victor Hugo Rubilar, from Argentina, holds eighteen international awards and five Guinness World Records, aiming to amaze audiences with his jaw-dropping world-class tricks.

In many countries worldwide, busking is a respected performance career, yet it remains misunderstood in South Africa. Tony Lankester, the CEO of the Cape Town Buskers Festival, comments:

Captivating busking takes real talent. Professional buskers know how to truly hold a crowd's attention and a good performer will have the audience happily parting with their money - often as part of the act.

The V&A Waterfront is leading the way for the professionalisation of busking with an active programme nurturing and supporting the local busking community. The head of communications for the V&A Waterfront, Donald Kau, says:

Buskers are a distinct feature of the Waterfront and an important part of our continuous investment in developing artists. The Buskers Festival is an extension of our ongoing commitment to create platforms for buskers to showcase their talent, earn an income and have exposure to a new audience daily.

Commenting on the Festival itself, Lankester concludes:

It's a light and lively Festival with plenty for every kind of audience to enjoy and it was really well received by the crowds last year. We are looking forward to once again celebrating the freedom of expression, staggering skill and cheeky humour that the buskers bring.

The Cape Town Buskers Festival runs from 5-8 October. Follow the Festival on its social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, using the hashtag #CTBuskers17. The Cape Town Buskers Festival is a project of the Cape Town Fringe, National Arts Festival and V&A Waterfront.

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