Saturday 10 December is an important day for folk music lovers as it heralds the Cape Town Folk and Acoustic Music Festival. It’s one night of amazing acoustic performances by 18 of South Africa’s top music artists, including Ard Matthews, Brian Finch, Natasha Meister, Tombstone Pete, Louise Day, and Christine Weir and Julie Blundell.

The festival is brought to your courtesy of Real Wired Music, Eastern Acoustics, CTICC, Sedgwick’s Old Brown Sherry and Marshall Music.

The acoustic guitars, folk and jazz performances are designed to recreate the ambiance of a genuine 70s folk concert. Artists will perform three sets with two 30 minute intervals. A cash bar and food stalls will cater to concert-goers food and beverage needs.

The 2011/12 Volvo Ocean race is less than 15 days from the off.  The ‘home’ port of Alicante in Spain opened its doors to the public on Friday 21 October; the six boats and crews are ready to rock, and for the hand-picked crews it’s now a fine balance between getting their minds into racing mode, and making the most of the last few weeks with family and loved ones.

Are you sick of the same old venues in Pretoria? Or perhaps you’re new to Pretoria and seeking an adventurous night out. Well head over to Arcade Empire, this venue is all about amazing food, good vibes, and awesome entertainment. Arcade Empire is a relatively new venue which offers good specials and hosts the top acts South Africa has to offer. Previously known as ‘Foundry Fly Lounge’, Arcade Empire has been revamped and decorated for massive parties. In the few months since its grand opening, this splendid venue has managed to attract bands from all over the country and youngsters from all types of scenes.

“We’ve been able to achieve what Foundry Fly Lounge couldn’t do in 10 years,” says 21-year old manager Zelda Van Staden.

As we stood sipping on the first of many ice cold beers in the parking lot, waiting for the other half of our Rocking the Daisies crew to arrive, we couldn’t avoid the contagious excitement from the flood of cars pulling into the parking lot one after the other in a seemingly endless  stream of dust. Under normal circumstances this might have bothered us, but our theme for the weekend was to get as down and dirty as possible. As the remainder of our party finally arrived, we wasted no time in getting our asses into the campsite for that ever elusive perfect camping spot. With a tall “Cobras Bang Bang Club” tent on one side of us, we knew we had found the perfect landmark beside which to pitch our slightly larger than life tents.

In 2010, the FIFA World Cup arrived in South Africa, and against many earlier predictions, Africa’s chest swelled with pride. The big guns of football’s showcase tournament adopted  the country, and despite Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and many of the top names leaving empty handed, a new world order was established.

The names of Iker Cassilas, Valdes, Reina, Pique, Inniesta, Alonso and Villa rolled over the airwaves and were hailed as heroes around the world … but one name stood above all. Paul. And Paul, amazingly, was an octopus.

The psychic octopus became internationally famous after his feeding selections were used to correctly predict winners at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Sadly, Paul died 3 months after Spain took the spoils, but he departed having correctly predicted that Cassilas and his men would be world champions.

“We are the 99% that will no longer stand for the greed and corruption of the 1%”.

With all the revolutions hitting the world one after another lately, could South Africa be next? It certainly seems that way, but only if a large enough group of people turn out to support this cause. Occupy South Africa – Operation Ubuntu starts its mission from 15 October 2011. The event will take place worldwide in Asia, Australia, London, and a large amount of American cities.

Put yourself in the position of being a crew member aboard a Volvo Open 70, on the opening leg from Alicante.  Having just negotiated  a 6300 mile rollercoaster ride of emotions, from the desperate frustration of the doldrums, to the White knuckle ride out of the tradewinds as you head south, your body and mind will have not yet have fully adjusted to the demands of ocean racing. At the end of that opening leg, you will sail into a likely ‘wind-shadow’ under Table Mountain, and the sometimes hostile environment of the open ocean will be replaced by the sight of spectator boats carrying family, friends, media and fans.  You will look upon Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles, and realize again that Cape Town has without doubt one of the world’s most beautiful skylines. And then you will arrive at a circumnavigators dream destination, the V & A Waterfront.

Whether you like to dodge the drudgery of the supermarkets, or simply enjoy the buzz of a market, the Mother City’s variety of local trendy markets will not disappoint. From holistic therapies, hand-made crafts, fresh fruits and vegetables, or gourmet treats, there’s a market that provides it. So why not swap the stale air and mundane products of the supermarket aisle for some fresh air and local support at any one of the following markets around the Cape.

Central Cape Town

Bo Kaap Food and Craft Market (Bo-Kaap): A small, cosy market with delicious local Cape foods and unique crafts. It’s held every first Saturday of the month from 9am-2pm.

“Perhaps it sounds ridiculous,” Stanley Kubrick said, “but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.”

If this master filmmaker was still alive, I wonder if he’d find the social media revolution as fascinating, confusing, empowering, terrifying and avant-garde as many a South African sees it.

With South Africa’s Facebook population growing by over 600 000 in the last six months, reaching its record high of over 4 million active users, it is no surprise more South African film-makers are attempting to fund their films independently through social media.

Whether you are a music connoisseur, a musician, or simply a lay listener, the fusion of compositions which reverberated through the CTICC’s grand auditorium in Cape Town on Saturday 24 September would not only have melted your music-loving mind away, but quite possibly turned you into a classical Indian music fanatic.

Local production company Inner Circle Entertainment presented the double bill concert ‘Celebration of Santoor’ to the audiences of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Santoor is a hammered dulcimer made of wood, which originated in the valley of Kashmir in the Himalayas. Originally an Indian folk instrument played as an accompaniment to a style of singing known as Sufiana Mausiqi, it is now on par with any other classical instrument owing to the skills of legendary santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma, who has created a new style of instrumental music due to his modification, arrangement and new techniques of playing on the hundred-stringed instrument.