African vibes will be celebrated this weekend at the Spier African Music Festival with headliners that'll ensure young and old get up close with their favourite artists at the estate outside Stellenbosch.
Music genres will include kwaito, traditional African, isi- Xhosa pop and experimental vibes. Mali-born singer Salif Keita is also to perform.
The festival is part of the 11th Spier Arts Summer Season and kicks off on Thursday night.
Freshlyground, the award-winning local band, and singer Vusi Mahlasela set the tone with Songs of Hope on Thursday at 8.30pm.
Keita claims the spotlight on Friday at 8.30pm. His sound draws on his homeland and has achieved worldwide recognition.
SA saxophonist and jazz muso Rus Nerwich is also part of the night's line-up.
Musicians will take to the open-air Spier Field from 2.30pm.
All evening concerts take place in the Spier Amphitheatre from 8.30pm.
Multi-instrumentalist Neo Muyanga, singer Zamajobe and kwaito's Mafikizolo play on Saturday afternoon .
Muyanga plays the nylon string guitar, acoustic piano and mesinko, a traditional Ethiopian bowed instrument.
If you can't catch Zamajobe in the afternoon, see her in the evening with Zimbabwe-born Dorothy Masuka.
Traditional sounds mark Sunday as Thandiswa Mazwai and Maveric take the mic.
Experimentalists will not be disappointed by the Kolo Novo Movie Band.
A mind-entangling affair will ensue as they go on stage with a "fusion of Gypsy, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Romanian and African melodies backed by a contemporary DJ".
Louis Mhlanga ends the festival on Sunday evening.
He is said to be a self-taught guitarist who copied the musical styles of Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones when he was 10 years old.
See www.spierarts.org.
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