MOSSEL BAY NEWS - An understated highlight of the Dias & Port Festival is the cultural concert, which also serves as the official opening of this four-day event, during which locals enjoy superb entertainment, completely free of charge.
This year, the opening concert, scheduled for 31 January in the Mossel Bay Town Hall, the entertainment will have at its core the theme, A Night at the Museum, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Dias Museum Complex.
The Mossel Bay Creative Cultures Association (MOCCA) has pulled out all the stops, bringing together musicians and singers - both soloist and choirs, as well as dancers and actors together on one stage.
Local poets and writers have come on board to create a unique script, depicting everything they hold dear regarding the place they call home - Mossel Bay.
Voices on stage will include acclaimed Petronel Baard, Adrian London, Keenan Daniels, Alicia van Wyk, as well as musicians such as the inimitable saxophonist Boesman Keyser.
These will be paired with the smooth sounds of the Mossel Bay municipal choir, the senior vocal ensembles of High School Point and Curro Mossel Bay, with newcomers among the juniors, the choir of St Blaize Primary School.
The multiple award-winning drama group of Erika Primary will add their speech choir to the mix.
In a first-ever Dias & Port Festival collaboration, dance studio teacher and owner, Angeline Mynhardt will team up with hip hop sensation, Snipers’ frontman Romeo Wagner, in a dance number not to be missed.
For the event, cabaret diva and chair of MOCCA Petronel Baard is arranging a special piece, to be presented as a mass choir item, never before attempted at an opening concert for the festival.
“We are very excited about the new horizons we are exploring as part of the Dias & Port Festival. In collaborating with other artists, lies the beauty of what it means to be truly, proudly South African. That is what MOCCA ultimately promotes through the performing arts,” says Baard.
The concert also includes an international component, featuring dance groups from Indonesia and Madagascar, as well as the Kanimanbo Portuguese band and the German band, who will this year be accompanied by a dance troupe as well.
Entrance to the concert is free. It starts at 18:30.
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