Sasol SciFest, or the National Festival of Science, Engineering and Technology, is held in late March in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Over seven days it features some 600 events: lectures, game drives, a laser show, workshops, sunset shows, robotics competitions, science olympics, school quizzes, interactive exhibitions, the PlayFair, field trips, talkshops and a film festival. Attendance now exceeds 35 000 visitors every year.
The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn features well-known and young up-and-coming artists in dance and theatre. Started as an Afrikaans alternative to the mainly English National Arts Festival, KKNK has 200 different shows on three different stages. The Splashy Fen music festival has attracted thousands of people to a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal since 1989.
In early days the focus was folk, light rock and black music styles such as mbaqanga and iscathamiya. This has now broadened to include mainstream and alternative rock and pop. The site has electricity, telephones, ablutions, market stalls, three stages, and medical and security personnel.
There are great bed-and-breakfasts in nearby towns for those who believe music festivals can be enjoyed without mud. 
The wet Underberg climate guarantees lots of mud - and splashing - at Splashy Fen.
(Photo: ) architecture hosts cultural activities, appetising spijs en drank temptations and authentic treasures. It includes a traditional Dutch beer garden and a tulip exhibition at the Volksmuseum. The Philippolis Witblits Festival, held in early April, will give you a taste of a proud local tradition - witblits (Afrikaans for "white lightning") is South African moonshine.
Held in the oldest town in the Free State, the festival has boeresports for the kids, food, drink and more witblits. Phillipolis also offers an artist's retreat, the Laurens van der Post Memorial Garden, the Transgariep Museum, safari packages, birdwatching and fishing. This annual festival, a highlight of the year for the South African belly dance community, is presented by Marocca Belly Dance Studios and offers workshops, dance performances and sales of belly dance accessories.
Held at the end of April, it aims to bring together performers and teachers from across the country and to promote a better image of belly dancing in South Africa. The two-day Prince Albert Food and Wine Festival, held in the Swartberg region of the Western Cape in May, offers a whole lot more than just the region's famous olives and wine. There's an art exhibition, beer tents, live music, witblits tastings, crafts for kids, historic tours, a cycle race, an olive pip-spitting competition, culinary demonstrations, a midnight ghost walk, stalls, cabaret, a dance and more.
Kasteel Olive Festival takes place in the Swartland area of the Western Cape in May. A feast of wine and the best olives in SA, the festival also has an art competition, live entertainment, stalls and lots of food. The Grahamstown National Arts Festival, held in late June or early July every year, is South Africa's oldest, biggest and best-known arts festival.
The 10-day event offers culture hounds every indulgence of theatre, music, song, dance, film and a whole lot more. If there's one South African festival you have to attend, this is it. The coastal town of Knysna is famous for its oysters, and increasingly famous for the July festival that celebrates them.
In addition to oyster braais, oyster tasting, oyster-eating competitions and other molluscular activities, there's live entertainment and lots of sporting events - cycling, running, canoeing, downhill racing and sailing. First held in 1986, the Ellisras Bushveld Festival takes place in early July in the heart of the bushveld, 280km north from Pretoria in the Waterberg district of Limpopo. The festival includes cattle shows, a game auction, horse jumping, dog shows, agricultural activities, a three-day battle for the best 4x4 competition, a game farms expo, hunting opportunities, bird- and tree-identification competitions, boerewors and other traditional foods, a beer tent and huge camp fires.
The Klein Karoo town of Calitzdorp is the port-wine capital of South Africa. Its annual port festival, held over a weekend in July, was inaugurated by the SA Port Producers Association in 1992 and showcases the top 15 South African port makers. There's a blind port tasting judged by SA's top wine critics, a potjiekos competition and ostrich farm tours, as well as the annual South African boules championships.
Held in August, Oppikoppi has been showcasing the country's original musical talent since 1994. It started on Oppikoppi - "op die koppie" in Afrikaans, or "on the hill" - farm in the bushveld, made a turn in Worcester in the Cape, moved to Tshwane for three years and finally settled for good at the original venue in 2004. There are three permanent thatched stages, a smaller comedy stage and a stage for more chilled music at the top of the koppie.
Oppikoppi has helped establish many South African musicians' careers, but it's not for the faint-hearted. This is real bushveld: hot, dry and covered in red dust and thorn trees. Expect to shower a lot when you get home.
(Oppikoppi also hosts an Easter Festival in .) Johannesburg's biggest annual jazz festival is an ideal family outing, featuring a range of musical styles but with a strong emphasis on jazz. Over 200 local and international artists perform at different venues across the city, particularly in Newtown.
Calvinia in the Northern Cape is sheep country, and this festival celebrates meat. There's meat braaied, stewed, curried, in pita, on sosaties, in potjies - you can even pick up a done-to-perfection sheep's head for a mere R30. First held in 1989, the three-day Hantam Vleisfees has a music concert, street party, vintage car rally and, a highlight for many, the Miss Vleisfees competition - a glittering affair with dinner and dancing.
outdoor setting in Magaliesberg. Held every year in August, the Cellar Rats Wine Festival is a day of wine tasting, with picnic baskets for sale and many activities for the kids. Enjoy huge shady trees, lush green grass and an abundance of birdlife on the banks of the picturesque Magalies River.
Designated drivers get in for free. Arts Alive, held every September since 1992, features a heady mix of dance, visual art, poetry and music at venues in the Joburg inner city. The main concert, held at the Johannesburg Stadium, headlines international superstars such as 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes.
Over 600 artists perform during the four-day festival, with most shows at various venues in Newtown. The ever-popular Jazz on the Lake is held on the final day. Aardklop Arts Festival offers a feast of arts and an all-round good jol for five days in late September and early October.
First held in 1998, Aardklop - Afrikaans roughly translated as "earth beat" - has over 90 productions, with classical music, jazz, hard rock, cabaret, visual arts, theatre, circus performances, opera, African and World music, poetry and more, ending with the OppiAarde rock festival on the final day. Woodstock, first held in 1999, is the largest youth-oriented music and lifestyle festival in South Africa. In addition to mainstream music, the festival offers a market of crafters and alternative lifestyle products over four days.
It is held at Hartbeeshoek Holiday resort near Hartbeespoort Dam in North West. Now in its sixth year, the Gariep Kunstefees (arts festival) has an impressive line-up of local musicians, a film festival showcasing South Africa's new film-makers, as well as art exhibitions and children's theatre. Every year, southern right whales travel thousands of miles to the Cape south coast to mate and calve in the bays.
Join the villagers of Hermanus for an entertainment-packed festival, in the town with the best land-based whale watching in the world. Rustler's Valley in the eastern Free State was the first to host music festivals in South Africa, although it now does so on a much smaller scale. The farm also has a number of events in .
The Standard Bank Awesome Africa Music Festival, first held in 1999, takes place in Durban's Albert Park. It has three stages of non-stop music, with over 200 artists from more than 20 countries. The focus is on collaboration with musicians from Africa and beyond.
A new addition to South Africa's festival circuit, the Knysna Gastronomica is a celebration of good food, wine and culture in the coastal town of Knysna. Join the people of Prince Albert as they celebrate their agricultural heritage in September. The show offers homecrafts, art and flowers, horses on show, motorbike obstacle route, sheep and angora goat competitions, local products, delicious food, bar facilities and entertainment for young and old.
The farm breakfast and steak braai are a must. Every September the Southern Cross Music Festival showcases South African music in a three-day event in Hidden Valley on the banks of KwaZulu-Natal's beautiful Mooi River. First held in 1998, the festival donates part of its proceeds to charity.
In addition to music, there's fishing, swimming, white water rafting, abseiling, hikes, walks, mountain biking and 4x4 courses. The farm caters for 6 000 One of the oldest festivals in South Africa - first held in 1969 - the Ficksburg Cherry Festival now attracts around 20 000 visitors to this small eastern Free State town every November. The scenery is magnificent, and the festival offers cherry and asparagus tastings, tours, picnics, music, and the Miss Cherry Blossom and Miss Cherry Pip competitions.
Rustler's Valley in the eastern Free State was the first to host music festivals in South Africa, although it now does so on a much smaller scale. Rustlers hosts some of its best trance / dance / drumming festivals in late November and December, including a New Year celebration - as well as the Spring Equinox Celebration in . Rustlers also offers the African Sweat Hut, permaculture design courses, a backpacker's lodge, cottages, a game reserve, the Saucery Restaurant and Marimba House.
The majestic scenery on the foothills of the Maluti Mountains alone is worth the trip. In the lush winelands of the Western Cape, at the amphitheatre on the Spier Estate, the annual Spier Summer Festival offers four months of music, opera, dance, stand-up comedy and theatre. First held in 1995, the festival runs from December to March.
News RSS