Cape Town - The sounds of the best in local and international jazz reverberated through the city as the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) made its much-anticipated return.
After a successful weekend showcasing more than 30 local and international artists across four stages, the festival welcomed thousands of guests – affectionately known as Festinos – for the 21st instalment of “Africa’s Grandest Gathering”, said CTIJF spokesperson, Kaz Henderson.
The festival is the biggest jazz event on the continent and the most diverse and best mix of local and international talent, Henderson said.
Chairperson of the Sekunjalo Group, Dr Iqbal Survé, said since owning the festival in 2007, they have funded 80 schools, teachers and instruments, while also having sent a number of young aspiring musicians on music scholarships.
He added that this was a philanthropic endeavour to give back to the arts.
Dr Survé, along with his family rubbed shoulders with the artists ahead of the show on Friday, where he also made a special announcement where he said the family is committing to giving R100-million to the CTIJF for a further three years.
His announcement was met by cheers and applause from guests in attendance.
“The festival has been owned by the Survé family since 2007. We’ve had amazing artists here from all over the world and we had a break because of Covid-19.
“The family is committing another R100m to the festival for the next three years. What’s often not known about what we’re doing in music is that we fund 80 schools, teachers and instruments, we have the edu-jazz band, we fund the master classes. We’ve sent a lot of young South Africans and Africans on music scholarships, etc.
“So this has happened for about 15 years as a family. We’re very committed to arts and culture and the festival for us is not a business to be frank, it’s running amazingly well, but for us, it’s a philanthropic endeavour where we want to give back to music.
“You want to continue to promote South African artists, African artists, integrate with the community and the festival is so highly ranked; next year we are twinning with another major festival in the world. So we can have a stage there and they are going to have a stage here.
“But we are so happy to have all of your artists here, I must thank you for your commitment to the festival.”
In a post on social media following her performances at the free concert at Green Market Square on Thursday and the festival’s Kippies stage on Friday, Judith Sephuma, said: “South Africa Cape Town, you were just amazing. What an amazing weekend we had at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Absolutely beautiful. The love is so real.”
