It’s more than a jazz festival
Over R4bn pumped into the local economy since 2007
IT TAKES over 3.1 million man-hours to produce Africa’s Grandest Gathering annually. But the enormous number of hours that are lovingly poured into creating the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) are not just to celebrate top international and local artists; the festival also creates thousands of jobs and contributes millions to the South African economy yearly.
The festival will take place on March 27 and 28 next year at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), and in celebration of 21 years of South Africa’s well-loved festival, event organisers espAfrika have released some of the numbers generated behind the scenes of the festival.
Since 2007, the CTIJF has contributed R4.4 billion to the Western Cape’s economy. Adding to this economic impact, the festival has created 37424 direct and indirect jobs since 1999. Last year, the festival created 1617 permanent jobs and another 1789 temporary jobs.
Over the last two decades, 2649 musicians have taken to the CTIJF stage. At Africa’s Grandest Gathering next year will be some of the best local and international music icons, including PJ Morton from the US, Jacob Collier from the UK, Abdullah Ibrahim, Jonathan Butler – with special guest Candy Dulfer from the Netherlands, Kwetu Trio (featuring Aaron Rimbui, Herbie Tsoaeli and Ayanda Sikade), Lira, Mandisi Dyantyis, MF Robots from the UK and South Africa’s Nduduzo Makhathini.
“The Festival has a huge impact on the regional and national economies. Not only does it assist in creating exposure for Cape Town as a destination – both locally and internationally, the CTIJF also attracts domestic, regional and global visitors to the Mother City and in turn creates thousands of jobs annually,” said festival director Billy Domingo.
Over 33860 festinos attended this year’s CTIJF. Of those, almost a quarter were visitors who travelled to South Africa to hear some of the top jazz names perform across the festival’s stages, while another quarter travelled from other provinces. Added to this are the 162000 people who have attended the Free Community Concert over the last 13 years.
But the festival’s impact does not only lie in economic impact and tourism numbers, explained Domingo.
“Not only does the Cape Town International Jazz Festival bring some of the top jazz talent to the Mother City, it also creates a platform to showcase emerging talent from across the continent,” he says.
“The CTIJF is passionate about developing local talent and has invested in youth through our Sustainable Training and Development programme.”
General access tickets for the 2020 festival are available at Computicket at R999 for a weekend pass and R649 for a day pass.
Official sponsors of the 21st annual CTIJF are The Department of the Arts and Culture, Heart 104.9 FM, Independent Media, AYO Technologies Solutions, Engen, Scottish Leader, Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, SAB ABInBev, Raymond Weil and the City of Cape Town.