The Toffie Pop Culture Festival and Design Conference is back in Cape Town for its second year and promises to give delegates lots to chew on (ok, that was cheap – like the tickets!). The festival/conference hybrid, which takes place at the truly lovely grand dame of Cape Town, the City Hall, Thursday 24 March – Saturday 26 March 2011, offers a mix of workshops, speakers, curated exhibitions, films, boxing matches and parties.
The venue, in the heart of Cape Town next to the Grand Parade, has been undergoing urgent renovations, and it’s inspiring to see the Mother City’s creative pulse showcased in one of its most beautiful buildings, as part of our industry’s contribution to a larger effort to rejuvenate the city centre.
It’s also encouraging to see a major design event actually made relatively accessible to designers. Tickets are priced at around R750 for the three-day event, with an extra R250 for specific workshop sessions. Design Indaba is a different beast altogether; its early bird tickets started at R5670 this year and ended at R6930 for on the day registration, by comparison.
The festival part of the event includes boxing matches, a curated exhibition and a club party in City Hall (Saturday 26 March at 9pm) featuring Liver, Dirty Paraffin, Sibot with B-Team and a light performance by Daito Manabe. Delegates and the public may also look forward to the B-LIVE Orchestra performance (Friday 25 March at 8pm, tickets available to public at R150 each) – a collaboration between the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, hip hop artist Tumi Molekane and electro musician Peach van Pletzen.
Exhibitors at Toffie includes Liam Mooney, Angie Batis & Shane Durrant, Porky Hefer, Kobus van der Merwe, Dave Pepler, Cornelia & Adi Badenhorst, Superella, Dokter & Misses, David West, Janet Kinghorn, Brandt Botes, Elle Decoration, Michelle Son, Frauke Stegmann, Marcii Goose, Freddy Sam, Black River FC, Andrew Putter, Barend de Wet, Sangoma & Photon Foundation, KingJames, Pieter Heyneke, Hannes Bernard and Iziko Museums of Cape Town.
The You & Me & Everyone We Know Market, meanwhile, will feature over 30 independent shops. The broader public is also invited to participate in the festival, with access to a market and exhibition area, at a cost of R25 per day (opens Thursday 24 March at 12 noon, Friday and Saturday at 9am). Madrid-based artists Boa Mistura will undertake several projects in Cape Town that will be showcased at Toffie.
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