“The Dias Festival is an annual celebration of cultural diversity in Mossel Bay that’s coordinated by the Municipality to boost tourism and the economy of the town,” said Mossel Bay’s Municipal Manager, Michele Gratz.
It will be officially launched by the Western Cape’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Ivan Meyer, at the Sound Stage in the Festival Arena at Santos Caravan Park on Friday, 30 January.
The Festival – which is themed ‘Where Cultures Meet’ – will run from 29 January to 1 February, 2015.
Dr. Gratz said that the theme is appropriate since research into the Middle Stone Age archaeology of the region – centred on the Pinnacle Point Caves – has revealed the earliest evidence for the use of ochre as paint, which puts Mossel Bay as the birthplace of culture.
“By tradition, the Festival kicks off with a cultural evening in the Maritime Museum of the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex,” she said.
The evening will feature arts troupes and folk dancers who will appear by courtesy of the Consuls General of Portugal, Indonesia, and the People’s Republic of China. These troupes will also perform on the Festival stage at Santos Caravan Park, and will take part in the street parade on the 31st of January.
The entertainment will run from Friday to Sunday, with performances by Emo Adams and his band, Take Note, as well as Idols finalists Lloyd Cele, Karin Kortje and Jody Williams, who will be joined by Loyiso Bala, Armand Hofmeyr, Pieter Mohr, Freddie Nest, Gerrie Pretorius, David Fourie, Willem Botha, Ampie du Preez, Monique, Nadine, Michael Lindt, and Snotkop – as well as the Mama Africa Xhosa folk dancers, the Grastrapper riel dancers, and troupes of gumboot dancers.
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