From weddings to waters and even Vic Falls, it’s big and small-time parties
● It’s KeDezemba boss, and time to party. Bashes to celebrate the silly season have kicked off, from Cape Town to Mahikeng.
Last night model Lee-Ann Liebenberg and her businessman husband Nicky van der Walt started their festive season with a private birthday soiree with 80 of their closest friends and family.
“We decided to do something small and intimate for Lee-Ann’s birthday, so we’ll just be hosting something at our house for about 80 people,” said Van der Walt on Friday.
Rapper Cassper Nyovest will celebrate his birthday with his Fresh Prince of Maftown celebration in his hometown of Mahikeng on December 22. He will be at the Mmabatho Stadium and tickets are R100.
But before we blow out candles for the rapper, DJ and producer Black Coffee is bringing his international concert to the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg next Saturday. It’s called Music is King.
“I’m in a space where I’m starting to make music [that is] not pigeon-holed into a genre and I feel music should be celebrated as music, not divided into different genres, because that divides people, their beliefs and thoughts,” he said.
“I’m working very hard to ensure that this will be a next-level show and unlike anything this country has seen before.”
Performing alongside Black Coffee will be US producer Swizz Beatz, Lady Zamar, Nasty C, Riky Rick, Black Motion, Monique Bingham, Thandiswa Mazwai, Shekhinah and Moneoa Moshesh.
Opting for a not-so-private wedding are marathon runner and businessman Sammy Mashita and his partner, Pheladi, who will tie the knot in Polokwane during a three-day affair.
The formal ceremony will be next Saturday followed by a lavish reception where it’s believed US singer Anthony Hamilton will make an appearance.
The traditional wedding will also have a star-studded lineup including Unathi Msengana and DJ Tira, while the MCs will include Idols SA judge Somizi Mhlongo and actress Nomzamo Mbatha.
The wedding will end on December 17 with a family picnic.
The couple will be dressed by David Tlale, and fellow designer and event organiser Gavin Rajah promises it will be the wedding of the season.
“The wedding has been designed with every detail in mind and is bound to set a new standard.
“It has been an exceptionally inspiring wedding to work on. We have flown in flowers from Holland, Kenya, Colombia and Singapore,” Rajah said.
Johannesburg will be the place to be for the New Year’s Eve weekend, with US artists Flying Lotus and The Internet making their way to SA for the second Afropunk event to be held here. The festival will be on December 30 and 31 at Constitution Hill.
For nature’s opulence, a true “wakanda” way to party into the new year will be at the Vic Falls Carnival in Zimbabwe.
The event will feature train parties, secret bush parties and performances by Black Motion, Lady Zamar, Freshlyground and many others.
Carnival marketing manager Charlotte Kanter said the festival was “the perfect escape from reality”.
A trip that won’t require a passport is the Get Lucky Summer party that starts in Knysna on December 28 and ends in Plett on New Year’s Eve, with GoodLuck, Freshlyground and Rubber Duc.
Another hot event on the social calendar is the second annual Nubian Music Festival at Eagle Waters Wildlife Resort at Hartbeespoort Dam, from next Friday to Monday.
It includes film, comedy and music from Mafikizolo, Mi Casa, Oliver Mtukudzi and Lira, and will be hosted by media personality Penny Lebyane.