It’s time for some rest and recreation. And if you have ambitions beyond lying down for the next fortnight, you’re not short of options. Here are the nation’s juiciest jols and events over the festive season . . .
AL FRESCO FILMS: Step outside for a classic movie experience on Wednesday nights at the Galileo Open-Air Cinema in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. Tickets from R79, with loads of food stalls. Or you could brighten your hungover Monday evenings with fun flicks at the Grand Daddy Hotel’s Pink Flamingo rooftop cinema in Long Street, City Bowl, set among seven vintage Airstream trailers. Tickets from R100. GIN & TONIC FESTIVAL: The local gin boom deserves a festival — and it gets one on January 30 in the new Mason’s Press Building in Woodstock, where South African micro-distilleries and international producers will be showcased. Website: http://ginandtonicfestival.co.za/ SINGING IN THE RAIN: Pieter Toerien’s new production of Singing in the Rain features a clutch of unforgettable songs, plus 12 000 litres of recycled water (until January 10, Artscape). Festive ballet favourite The Nutcracker is also at the Artscape (until December 24). Catch comedian Stuart Taylor’s 2015 in Review (until January 9, the Baxter), plus a musical tribute to the Luxurama, Cape Town’s grand dame of non-racial entertainment during apartheid (Remembering the Lux, The Baxter, until January 9). TABLE MOUNTAIN SUMMER SOLSTICE: Celebrate the sunset of the season on December 22 atop that big flat rock. If it’s your birthday, you’re over 18 and have a valid South African ID, claim a free return ticket to the summit. Not your birthday? Half-price tickets are available at the cableway ticket office at 6pm from January 4 to February 29. Adults pay half price at R120 per ticket; children pay R57.50. TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION: All aboard a nostalgic 1912 voyage: get a boarding pass, become an honorary passenger and follow the great liner’s doomed journey. The show includes reconstructions of the ship’s interiors and an affecting collection of china, postcards, perfume vials and ship flotsam. Until March 16, V&A Waterfront. Adults from R135; children from R85. WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: On loan from London’s Natural History Museum, wildlife photography at its theatrical best is now on at the Chavonnes Battery Museum, V&A Waterfront, until April 15. This year’s instalment features the cream of 42 000 entries from 96 countries, including 12 South African winners and finalists. At the Wildlife Wednesdays events from 6pm-8pm, top photographers present their work and tell stories. ZIP ZAP CIRCUS: Treat your budding little entertainers to a free show by the Zip Zap Circus School, which has trained youth in circus arts since 1992. These young stars have pedigree, having completed 27 international tours and evolved into professional artists now working in Europe and North America. The Fun Factory Show will stage 60 actionpacked minutes of solo and group acts involving trapeze, contortion and other acrobatics, plus a sterling set of tricks. Catch it today, and from January 13 to 17 at 4pm, V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre. SPIER PICNICS: Book your summer picnic at scenic Spier wine estate before noon for collection the next day, and knock your date’s socks off with a luxurious array of food options, including gourmet, gluten-free or vegetarian (R395 for two). Extra guests pay R200 per person, and there are options for kids. KIRSTENBOSCH CAROLS & SUMMER TUNES: The sunset concerts are back, and will host the likes of MiCasa, Jimmy Nevis, The Parlotones, Karen Zoid, Francois van Coke and Prime Circle every Sunday (youth from R80; adults from R110). Catch the last session of the Kirstenbosch Christmas Carols by Candlelight today (scholars from R75; adults from R100). GOLDFISH SUBMERGED SUNDAYS: The award-winning Cape Town jazzy-house duo are back for their traditional sultry summer sessions at swanky Shimmy Beach Club on the Atlantic seaboard every Sunday until January 31. Tickets from R100. L’ORMARINS QUEEN’S PLATE: A time-honoured blue-and-white celebration descends on Kenilworth Racecourse on January 9 for a horse-racing highlight: the 155th Queen’s Plate. One of the most sought-after events on the country’s social calendar, with best-dressed contenders aplenty. Tickets from R300 per person. CULINARY CHRISTMAS: Tuck in at scenic city hotels such as the Twelve Apostles near Camps Bay and the Waterfront’s Table Bay Hotel. The Twelve Apostles’ eyecatching setting will cost you R1 050 per person for dinner and R1 075 for lunch. The Table Bay offers a more affordable dinner at R600 per person, and a buffet lunch at R695 person. The City Bowl’s intimate Rick’s Café Américain will be hosting a continental Christmas Eve dinner, starring slow-roasted duck with apple-scented red cabbage, serviette dumplings and dark beer jus. Bookings essential. MINSTREL CARNIVAL: On January 2 or Tweede Nuwe Jaar, the 200-year-old Kaapse Klopse troupes electrify the City Bowl with their song-and-dance parade. Close to 50 competing goema troupes march in glitter-studded costumes, top hats and parasols. The carnival traditionally starts at Zonnebloem and ends in the BoKaap. FIRST THURSDAYS: On the first Thursday of each month, nocturnal Cape Town becomes a walkable feast thanks to the central district’s art galleries and shops staying open late. Highlights on January 7 include the Alexander Bar Upstairs Theatre’s Play Things, an experimental performance platform hosting 15-minute sessions from 6pm-8pm; and PINK!, “a rosy summer” exhibition at Chandler House in praise of the colour. First Thursdays is free, but venues may have cover charges.