Journey to Jazz Festival Activity Programme

Landscape of Awe: J2J 24 Festival Meet and Greet Activity Programme Announced

“Greet and Meet” at Journey to Jazz Festival a Must Programme Announced
Festival’s 2024 activity programme goes beyond music to offer road trippers an experience that is a feast of fun and cultural opportunities

The Journey to Jazz Festival, now in its second year, is so much more than music. Being a celebration of the human spirit and cultural delights, it offers locals and visitors to Prince Albert, a wide range of extended events and activities with which to fill their days and nights, in addition to the incredible performances on offer from a world-class line-up of artists appearing between 1 – 5 May.

There’s something for everyone…

This year, Journey to Jazz turns the spotlight on local resident and internationally acclaimed textile designer and entrepreneur, Frances VH, who is the festival’s featured artist for 2024. Frances, and her studio have produced a collection specially curated for the festival called the “Voordeur Collection”, a woven textile fabrication that pays homage to the walls, doors, blooms, and everyday happenings on Prince Albert’s Botterblom Straat.

“This work weaves together curtains that hover over the gap in the wall that makes space for the ‘Voordeur’, the door we use as a physical divide for who and what we let in and that which we would rather keep out,” commented Frances VH.

Cultivating connection

Kim Winter, who is curating this year’s festival activities for Journey to Jazz, shares that Prince Alberters have a saying they live by: “Groet is’n moet” (greeting is a must), which is why we are one of the friendliest towns in South Africa and why we have designed our activities programme around welcoming our festival goers to make them feel at home while they are here. She also mentions that the town’s other ethos, stemming from one of its bygone residents, Outa Lappies, is to make something out of nothing. Wise words to live by.

Here’s a snapshot of the Journey to Jazz 2024 Meet and Greet Activities Programme:

To explore and expand the senses from within, the festival offers two hands-on artistic workshops; Connect with Clay and connect with yourself in the meditative practice of making pinch pots with Sue Savage or participate in an Embodied Drawing Workshop – Drawing with Mindfulness with Rebecca Haysom. Both workshops emphasise play and process and are suitable for anyone with a bit of curiosity. All materials are provided.

Also, on offer during the week, will be the Prince Albert ‘Markie’, and outdoor space in which to gather, for a quick, light bite, shop local produce and arts & craft.

Experience the magic of the cosmos come to life with a special Night Sky Tour under the blanket of stars as the mysteries of the universe are unravelled. The town’s Fransie Pienaar Museum will also open its doors for a magical evening for a Night at the Museum which involves a quintessential Karoo Roosterkoek and Witblitz (locally made moonshine), by the fire, and a look at the Outa Lappies exhibit for inspiration. For those with an intrepid spirit, why not experience Prince Albert’s night-time Ghost Walk, including a visit to an unusual graveyard!

The Prince Albert Gallery is also set to host tours of its latest showings, which include Wehrner Lemmer’s sculptures “The Glistening Earth” and Johan Bloom’s abstract landscapes “Landscape of Awe – The Swartberg Series“, both a celebration of the natural world.

With nature very much in mind, local ecology expert, Honorary Professor Sue Milton-Dean will guide walkers on a 2 km trail with spectacular Karoo desert scenery and fascinating endemic succulent plants.

Getting into shape for any of the cultural activities on offer or just to keep up with the beat, Journey to Jazz offers festival goers the opportunity to kickstart their mornings with a fabulous mat Pilates session, to the tune of jazz music, or a Forrest, Yin or Kundalini Yoga session on Wednesday or Friday mornings during the festival.

How about the Prince Albert parkrun on Saturday 4th May starting 08H00 at the Odendaal Stadium. For the Mountain Biking enthusiasts, join a social ride with young developmental cyclists to explore 42km on back roads and across private farms. Please note this is not technical – please bring own bike and helmet. Duration: approx. 2.5 hours and all proceeds go to Prince Albert cycling development project.

With so much to do and see, it’s no wonder the festival has also arranged for tasty activities to whet the whistle, including Koffie en Biskuit at the Hope Warrior Coffee Shop at the PACT Centre in Botterblom Straat, and a sublime wine tasting at Fernskloof Vineyard’s tasting room on Church Street.

Venues where the festival will take place span the entire town, with most being in walking distance of one another. In addition to the Showroom Theatre and the Swartberg Pass, festival goers can experience performances at the NG Kerk, outdoors at the African Relish Restaurant, the intimate Old Barn, as well as its Botterblom Street for a New Orleans festive vibe. The official opening of the festival will be staged at the Krittikom Quarry Theatre a former disused quarry of prehistoric stone that was revamped by PACT for the inaugural event.

What also makes Journey to Jazz a total standout, is how the entire community comes together to present this world-class event, with the town’s abiding saying, “Groet is ‘n Moet” (Greeting is a Must), very much in evidence. Supporting the music on offer are a host of exciting lifestyle events and exhibitions. From a ghost walk, a night at the museum (for dinner), the Groet Tafel (Greeting Table) gathering, sunrise yoga, guided walks in the Swartberg Pass and at Wolwekraal, wine tastings and 5-star cuisine and more. Tickets for these events will also be made available on Quicket, with a percentage of the sales go towards the NPO Prince Albert Community Trust (PACT).

Journey to Jazz is produced by PACT, which created the festival to provide the youth of the town and surrounding areas, with the means to practically deliver the skills they have developed through PACT’s various training programmes. J2J is aimed at giving these young people income opportunities in an area that is very much isolated. In 2023, 86 youth were trained over a period of 10-months in all aspects of event management, and who delivered a professional event. In 2024, 80 youth will be involved in co-producing Journey to Jazz.

PACT also became the custodians of the town’s Showroom Theatre late last year, which is run as a social enterprise to further support PACT’s aims and to broaden the practical training of the town’s youth. Proceeds from Journey to Jazz also ensure that PACT can continue with its works in the area.

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