LONDON OLYMPICS 2012

A PROUD MZANSI



South African swimmer Chad Le Clos with his gold medal
(source: www.globalpost.com) 

Whenever you turn on your television or even your radio, all you hear about are the 2012 Olympics which are taking place in London. This event which brings together different countries all over the world by means of competition, takes place every 4 years. South Africa qualified in different categories this year. These include the swimming, female soccer, long jump, rowing and athletics. We already have 3 gold medals and 1 silver, needless to mention just how proud South Africans are!

FRONT ROW SEAT AT HOME

The 2012 London Olympics
(source: www.en.wikipedia.com)

 

Some people might wonder how we know all of these things about the 2012 Olympics. South African’s are given a chance to get a front row seat of the event from the comfort of their own home. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and Supersport channels on satellite decoder DSTV; have been broadcasting the 2012 Olympics since day 1! This gives us the viewers, a chance to support our country with even more involvement.  To top it all off, a daily wrap up of the day’s events at the 2012 Olympics is broadcast for all those who couldn’t watch the2012 Olympics all day. I honestly think that this is a good Public Relations move to avoid multiple complaints from viewers during this 2012 Olympic period. No matter what time it is; everyone gets a chance to root for their country during these challenging games!

MACUFE

IS THIS THE ONE FREE STATE EVENT WORTH ATTENDING?

FREE STATE'S VERY OWN: The Macufe festival



PARTY TRAIN: Oneof the event's sponsors, Shosholoza Meyl

Macufe is an arts and culture event that has been taking place for the past 15 years now. It always happens during late September and early October in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The festival features various musical performances, theatre performances, poetry shows and traditional arts and craft performances. The festival attracts over 140 000 people since its first year and I would personally say that the event sounds like one worth attending! An even greater addition to the event is the fact that the event organisers have great sponsors with different contributions to the success of the event; such as Mageu and South African tourist trains Shoshola Meyl. The train offers what they call a party train, for the festival. The party train transports people to Bloemfontein to attend the festival and also offers a wide range of entertainment such as a dance coach and refreshments during the trip! Factors like these and competitions held by other sponsors also contribute to more attendees at the event. Taking place again in early October this year; I truly believe that this is an event one shouldn’t turn a blind eye to!

South African Music Awards 2012



COULD THIS BE THE EVENT OF THE YEAR?

Better than ever: SAMA's 2012

Top nominees: From left, Zahara and Mi Casa vocalist

The 18^th Annual South African Music Awards are right around the corner and will be hosted at Sun City in the North West, on April the 30^th 2012. I really think this will be the most memorable event of 2011 for South Africa because of all the planning that has been executed into this event. There will be an amazing 18 hosts for the awards; which include TV favourite Sizwe Dhlamini and Afro-soul singer Unathi. There will be goodie bags handed out to every guest at the event; these goodie bags will include great gifts such as designer sunglasses, trendy jeans and pampering treatment. All of this and more will be possible due to the sponsors the show has; they have popular channel and award broadcaster SABC1, clothing outlet Edgars, car company KIA and many more! In addition to the amazing event planning; the actual event will be even more worthwhile. There are numerous nominee categories this year, with the most nominated artists being newcomers such as Zahara and group Mi Casa. If that isn’t enough; there will even be performances from artists such as hip-hop star AKA and a Lifetime Achievement Award segment for two of South Africa’s musical legends; Ray Phiri and Vusi Mahlasela. I honestly predict that this event will be really packed, plus the tickets to attend (which were found at Computicket ticket sales) are already sold out! This will definitely be a great introduction for the new CEO of the awards; Mr Randall Abrahams, who is also known as a judge on music competition South African idols. 

http://samusicawards.co.za/




6th annual Back to the city

SOCIAL MEDIA DOES IT AGAIN!

The official poster for Back to the city

No matter how many times older people can say social media and technology are confusing the youth, it still proves to be a very powerful factor in spreading the word about events and uniting people! I believe it has proved this right yet again by assisting in spreading the word about a hip hop and youth culture celebration event; the 6^th annual Back To The City event  which will be held on the 27^th of April 2012 on Henry Nxumalo Street in one of South Africa’s biggest cities; Johannesburg. The event includes live performances from great South African hip hop artists, dancers, street art and exhibitions. The event surely sounds like one to not miss out on!

The power one Blackberry Messenger or Facebook status message has towards the promotion of any event is really tremendous! I myself didn’t know much about the event but learnt a lot about it and even want to attend it all because of what I have been exposed to on different social media platforms. Blog posts have been created for the event; such as http://noblegrinders.blogspot.com/2012/03/back-to-city-2012-announcement-list.html , the event has an official Facebook page: Back to the City Festival and a page on the top micro blogging site Twitter @BacktothecitySA.  From what I have observed on these social media platforms; I believe that this event which will be celebrated on one of South Africa’s biggest public holidays (Freedom Day on celebrating our countries liberation) will be a huge success!

Masters of Rhythm

BACK TO THE STREETS

Taking it to the streets:The Masters Of Rhythm Logo

Masters of Rhythm; also referred to as MOR is known as a youth movement towards the celebration of dance. A major part of the movement has to do with hip hop. The event usually takes place at a venue and takes one day, whereby dancers and dance crews battle until there is one ultimate winner! The venue is usually referred to as “the streets” by the dancers. Last year however; the event organisers decided to take a different approach for the event by making it a weekly show on top youth channel VUZU (channel 123 on DSTV).  This brought the event a lot of publicity and a lot of followers for the dance crews that took part in the competition; especially for the winning crew The Reptiles. The show had plenty of viewers and although great judges such as rapper AKA were featured; the show is set to be going back to ‘the streets” again this year during the mid-year. We can all look forward to yet another celebration of dance in our country!

http://www.mastersofrhythmsa.com/index.php

The Rand Easter Show

The banner used for this year's expo

What is the event most South Africans look forward to during Easter? I would say it is the Rand Easter show. It is held each year at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg. It takes place during the Easter time and is taking place from Friday the 6^th of April to Sunday the 15^th of April this year. It features food shows, children’s activities, garden shows, performances, extreme zones and many more fun activities. However; as a PR student, I do not feel like there was proper marketing put into place for this year’s show. In the past years, every person would be talking about the show because of how great it was marketed; but now some people even forgot about it. This is because of the little advertising and broadcasting which was put around the event. However; word of mouth and social media became good tools for the show this year, so I trust that a lot of people will be able to enjoy the great festivities which will be offered this year!

http://www.randshow.co.za/?gclid=CKzkidSDpa8CFc4LtAodqnT-ZA

Cape Town International Jazz Festival

Music at the Mother City: festival's logo

The 13^th annual North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town; promised fans an unforgettable experience this year. Performances from the likes of Hugh Masekela, Allen Stone, Atmosphere from the US, Unathi Nkayi, Jakes Bantwini and many more talents from South Africa and other countries. However; fans were promised a performance from international Neo-Soul singer, Jill Scott and had to be told that her appearance would be cancelled. This caused a lot of chaos for the event planners because fans were complaining, especially those who had bought tickets to the festival just to see Jill Scott perform. The PRP’s working on the event made a major comeback by filling in her performance with well known international artist, Lauryn Hill. A total of 34000 tickets were sold and this shows a large growth for the event, comparing this year to the year 2000; where only 14000 people attended. The festival takes place on Friday the 30^th of March and on Saturday the 31^st of March 2012. Like all the past years, the event takes place at The Cape Town International Convention Centre. I strongly believe that attendees will enjoy a fun-filled experience this year!

Performances at the festival

http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/music/lauryn-hill-bra-hugh-up-jazz-fest-fever-1.1266489