2009 Festival Announcement
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2009 Festival Announcement HTML PDF
Festival opening times and ticket prices

Thursday 24th & Saturday 26th – 10h00 to 20h00
Friday 25th and Sunday 27th – 13h00 to 20h00

Tickets are for sale at the gate, R20 for adults, R10 for kids under 12 and pensioners The 2009 Soweto Festival will open with a bang on Thursday 24th September, the Heritage Day holiday, and run until the evening of Sunday 27th September.

Now in its fifth year, the Soweto Festival is entering a new phase in its life, which will see a host of new activities for visitors to enjoy, making the event even more dynamic and spectacular.
We have recently become a member of Proudly SA.
  Adele Lucas Promotions has recently been admitted as a member of Proudly South Africa. Both our Festivals, in Soweto and Khayelitsha, will feature Proudly SA exhibition stands.

We are very pleased to have joined this important and growing family of organisations and supporting Proudly SA’s noble cause.
 
Venue
For the second year in a row, the venue is the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus on Chris Hani Road (previously Old Potch Road).
  Click on the info image to view / download the venue map - 203kb
UJ have committed their full co-operation in making the 2008 Festival the best yet, and the campus offers some significant benefits to all concerned:

Location: situated on one of Soweto’s major routes, it is accessible and easy to find, only 5 minutes along Chris Hani Road from the N1 highway
Parking: The University Campus is currently under construction and so parking is now across Chris Hani Road, on the grass next to the lake.
Facilities: Facilities: All the requirements of the Festival are catered for on the extensive campus:
 
• a huge marquee will be erected on the main sports field, giving over 6 500 square metres of air-conditioned exhibition space
   
• the indoor sports arena will be the location of the Youth Zone
   
• the main entertainment stage will be in the midst of it all, visible to the thousands of visitors gathering alongside
   
• outdoor exhibits will be located in the attractive tree-lined area adjoining the main marquee
   
• Other activities, such as the Shoprite Taste Sensation, the food and beer garden area and the kiddies play area, can all be comfortably accommodated within easy reach of visitors
   
New activities
The Youth Zone
 
Evolving from the Careers Village which featured in the first three Soweto Festivals since 2005, the Youth Zone was developed last year and was highly successful. It takes the Careers Village concept further by introducing entertainment and a youth-oriented exhibition into the mix. The Youth Zone brings the youth a vibrant mix of music, theatre, visual art, talk and the chance to meet established and rising stars. The emphasis will continue to be on providing young visitors with inspiration, information and motivation for their future careers, but now blended with fun and all the irresistible elements of youth culture including their favourite brands in clothing, accessories, hi-tech and much more.
 
 
Shoprite Chefs Arena
 
Shoprite have come on board for the second year running as the Gold Sponsor of the Chefs Arena, known as the Shoprite Taste Sensation, which will add a touch of spice to the Festival. Last year it was one of the big hits with thousands of visitors pouring in to experience the latest trends in African cuisine. A full programme of food preparation and tastings, as well as pairings with wines and other beverages aimed at the Soweto consumer, will feature celebrity chefs and have a high-energy flavour to it.
 
Story-telling Boma
 
 
The Storytelling Boma, sponsored by 46664 and Jozi FM, will celebrate the oral heritage of South Africa to coincide with Heritage Day. Well-known and emerging poets, storytellers and representatives from the creative sector will captivate visitors with tales of their ancestors, stories of love and hardship and real-life accounts of adventure, presenting the authentic culture of Africa in the heart of Soweto.
 
 
Joburg Shopping Festival
 
The City of Johannesburg is hosting its first ever shopping festival, aimed at attracting shoppers from Africa and beyond to the continent’s shopping hub. Run throughout the month of September, the focus of the last week is Soweto, aimed to coincide with the Soweto Festival. Shoppers will be bussed in to Soweto to shop at the three main malls – Maponya, Jabulani and Protea Glen, then taken to the Soweto Festival where they will enjoy all the fun and continue to shop at the hundreds of stalls in the exhibition. These will include over 50 small businesses with products ranging from crafts to bed and breakfasts. http://www.jsf2009.com
 
 
Amstel Beer Garden

Visitors will be able to relax and chill out, listening to funky music while sipping their favourite drink. Situated outdoors under the trees, the Amstel beer garden will be the perfect resting and meeting place to put up weary feet after hours of bargain-hunting in the exhibition or jiving to the beat on the main stage!
 
Mobile marketing opportunities
 
 
For the first time the Soweto Festival will be offering exhibitors and sponsors opportunities to communicate with festival goers using the latest mobile marketing techniques, including SMS, MMS, WAP and proximity messaging.

Mobile marketing platforms will be installed at high footfall areas at the festival, such as the entrance, the Youth Zone, the main entertainment stage and the Shoprite Taste Sensation, where passers by will be able to pick up “push” messages attracting them to special deals available on their stands. In this way, exhibitors will be able to build up their customer databases and draw people to special offers and product giveaways.

The Soweto Festival will be one of the first events of its kind to use these techniques, capitalising on the near 100% cell phone penetration that exists in this target market. Our resident expert in mobile marketing, Toby Chance, can be contacted at 011 646 5630 or toby@adelelucas.co.za to discuss specific packages on offer