CAPE TOWN - The esteemed Cape Town international Jazz Festival has been postponed for another 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 on Monday.
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 also had to be postponed as the coronavirus just started making waves in South Africa.
#CTIJF2021 POSTPONED! Visit our website for more information - https://t.co/Pwime9d4q0
— CAPE TOWN JAZZ FEST (@CTJazzFest) January 11, 2021
“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.
Domingo said he trusted the festival’s valued sponsors, corporate clients and visitors would accept the decision, meant to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
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 the 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 who performed,” said Domingo.
He promised that the show would provide the perfect entertainment “fix” for jazz lovers of all genres.
- African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa