The esteemed Cape Town International Jazz Festival has been postponed for a second year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Festival director Billy Domingo announced the roll-over of the prestigious annual music event — recognised as the fourth largest jazz festival in the world and the largest in Africa — on social media yesterday.
The festival usually brings in about 40 artists from across the world on five different stages singing their hearts out to over 35 000 fans annually.
The 2020 event was postponed as the coronavirus just started making waves in South Africa.
“The decision to postpone the 2020 Cape Town International Jazz Festival in March was one not taken lightly and made in the best interest of our valued festival goers, sponsors and corporate clients,” Domingo said.
“This decision was accompanied by an optimistic view to host the festival once again in 2021. Sadly, we currently find ourselves in the midst of a dreaded second wave of Covid-19 infections, the impact of which, by all accounts, we will feel deep into 2021.
“The health and safety of everyone involved with the festival is of paramount importance. It is for this reason that we have decided to postpone the festival to 2022,” he added.
Organisers had been working hard behind the scenes to bring a new series of online events and smaller live experiences for jazz lovers throughout 2021, he said.
“JazzFix will be formally launched early in [this] new year. The online shows present footage of some of the festival’s greatest moments and shows exclusively performed at the festival over the past 20 years, which includes interviews with artists,” said Domingo.
African News Agency (ANA)