Celebrating the Festive Season in Cape Town

Dec 15
18:45

2011

Adele Kendall

Adele Kendall

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Spending a sunny Christmas and New Year’s in shorts and flip-flops outweighs the joys of having a white Christmas in our books. If the stunning weather, girls in bikinis and magnificent views are not enough to make you climb on the first plane, the wide variety of activities, festivals, concerts and happenings should give you enough reason to celebrate Christmas in Cape Town.

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Spending a sunny Christmas and New Year’s in shorts and flip-flops outweighs the joys of having a white Christmas in our books. If the stunning weather,Celebrating the Festive Season in Cape Town  Articles girls in bikinis and magnificent views are not enough to make you climb on the first plane, the wide variety of activities, festivals, concerts and happenings should give you enough reason to celebrate Christmas and New Years in Cape Town. Here are some ideas to celebrate in style.

• Catch a cable car to the top of Table Mountain on Christmas Day and meet Father Christmas at the Lower or Upper Station. The restaurant will also be offering a special Christmas themed menu. You can watch the last sunset of 2011 and welcome the New Year from the top of the mountain with the last cable car going back down at 1am.

• The Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts offer a relaxed way to spend a Sunday afternoon in a breathtaking setting. The best way to enjoy the concert is to pack a picnic basket, bring along the family and friends and relax on the grass banks while enjoying the music echoing through the beautiful botanical gardens. Enjoy carols by candlelight, the popular rock band Zebra & Giraffe as well as South African icons Mango Groove partying in 2012.

• Nothing spells summer more than enjoying a picnic on the many wine farms that Cape Town has to offer. A day out in the countryside is ideal for the whole family and the majority of wine farms offer a Christmas menu or Christmas picnic to enjoy on the farm.

• If you are after massive crowds, huge dance floors and a good party. The 5fm New Year’s Party at V&A Waterfront is bound to be the biggest party in Cape Town. Hotshot DJs will be entertaining the crowd while the New Year rolls in.

• The Wavescape Film Festival takes place from the 9th – 19th of December and includes local and international films as well as an auction of artistic surfboards for charity. The Film Festival opens it’s screening on Clifton Beach and draws surfers from far and wide.

• For that last minute Christmas shopping, Cape Town has a wide variety of retail centers, flea markets, craft markets and much more. With places like Green Point Flea Market, Kirstenbosch Craft Market, Century City and Cavendish Mall you will most certainly find what it is that your heart desires.

• If its fine dining you're after with the family on Christmas day there is no better place to indulge in anything from the best seafood, sushi, Italian, Cuban, Mexican, Greek, you name it, and of course take-aways by the beach if that’s your fancy. Cape Town definitely has some of the best fish and chip restaurants anywhere. While you at it, don’t forget the endless amount of popular ‘watering holes' around town. Rub shoulders with the rich and famous for a sundowner in Camps Bay or have a laid back cocktail while watching the boats cruise by at the V&A Waterfront.

• Enjoy the clean and safe blue flag beaches of Cape Town with various activities for the whole family or just a romantic stroll along the beach. You will find many stunning beaches to choose from across the peninsula from the cool crisp Atlantic to the warmer waters of False Bay. Keep an eye out for the Sharkspotters and be sure to have a chat with them to find out more about their unique and very interesting organization. The more popular beaches will have renting facilities of surfboards, wetsuits etc. for the active at heart.

Cape Town has something for everyone this Christmas, boating, fishing, abseiling, hiking, birding, surfing, diving, shopping, dinning, partying, wine tasting you name it, all with convenient travel and a lovely climate to add to the enjoyment.