Events

2025

AIR FESTIVAL - PLETTENBERG BAY

AIR FESTIVAL 2025 – A Celebration of Indigenous Arts & Culture! On 21 March 2025, the African Indigenous Renaissance (AIR) Festival brought the magic of music, dance, and creativity to Kranshoek Community Centre, Plettenberg Bay! Hosted by the Cape Town Arts Festival in partnership with the Ariva Arts Foundation, this FREE multi-genre festival was a spectacular tribute to South Africa’s rich cultural heritage. With the support of Bitou Municipality, the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC), the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), the Presidential Employment Stimulus Program (PESP5), the Western Cape Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS), the SAMPRA Development Fund and Plett Tourism, the festival made a massive impact—empowering artists, businesses, and the local creative economy!

2023

CAPE TOWN ARTS FESTVAL AT THE CASTLE OF GOODHOPE

The recent Cape Town Arts Festival was held on the 9th and 10th of December 2023 at the Castle of Good Hope with the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC), Ariva Arts Foundation (AAF), Castle of Good Hope, SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the City of Cape Town. The festival, characterized by purposeful art and music, served as a platform to mold talent into a formidable force that actively educated, nurtured, and provided performance opportunities for both emerging and established artists and musicians. A total of 372 artists and 83 vendors earned an income opportunity during the 2-day weekend festival. The multi-genre free CT Arts Festival offered a festive family outing in a historic space where diverse cultures came together and bonded through the power of the arts, promoting social cohesion and cultural understanding.

2022

BEYOND BUSKING DAY AT THE CASTLE OF GOODHOPE

The Festival Day was filled with a variety of entertainment and activities from Youth Edutainment, Cape Town Wellness, and Food Market, Healing and Lifestyle Arts, African Voices for Hope and Peace Exhibition (AVHP), Busking, Live Music Performances, Yoga and Meditation, African Storytelling, Craft Designers, Live Sculptors, Images of Hope – Visual Art and Interactive Exhibition, Voices of Hope and Peace (interactive poetry workshop), Reimagining Cape Town Arts Symposiums and many wellness activities including Tai Chi, Fencing, Zumba Dance and more.

2022

VUKA AFRICA COLLECTIVE

Ariva Arts Foundation has been instrumental in working with corporates like the AA (Automobile Association of South Africa and African Voices for Hope and Peace to commission, compose and inspire other artists and creatives to generate content that will infect our society with a sense of National pride and togetherness. We showcase this loose collective of artists and voices for hope and peace at all of our events

2022

KAROO PROJECT

Rootspring is excited to introduce The Karoo Project series. The Karoo project is a response to the immediate implications of the severe lockdown in 2020. Like many other art sectors, the music industry has been significantly affected by COVID-19, with notable impacts on live performance revenue.

This project aimed to create a unique experience because it offered a space for musicians to perform again and an opportunity to reconnect to our natural environment. This series does not only include extraordinary musicians but also boasts the beautiful and magical Karoo, specifically the Klein Karoo as a host. In partnership with the KKNK and supported by ABSA, The Karoo Project is featured in the ever-popular Absa Kuierkamer and was presented in virtual form as part of the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) online festival in 2021.

The 24th BASA Awards – a virtual ceremony filmed at multiple locations in Cape Town and Johannesburg – partnered by Hollard and directed by Alby Michael also featured The Karoo Project for KKNK. The one who sings’ Thetha Mama which means speak mother is a personal song and calls to hear the story of your mother or father so that you can connect and feel them.

LEAD MUSICIAN: The One Who Sings (Zolani Mahola) BACKING MUSICIANS: Lynn Daphne Rudolph (Viola) Mark Fransman (Clarinet) Terrence Scarr (Violin) Browen Clacherty (Vibraphone) Hans Huyssen (Cello) CREW: Jonny Blundell (Music Director) Pippa Ehrlich (Film Co-Director) Bruce Meissner (Film Co-Director) Faine Pearl (Camera) Dave Langemann (Sound Engineer) Purity Zinhle Mkhize (Styling) Ebony Blundell (Logistics)

For more info on Rootspring and what we do: https://www.rootspring.co.za

Follow The One Who Sings (Zolani Mahola): https://www.instagram.com/zolanimahola/