Joburg gets spruce-up for Afropunk art festival

09 December 2017 - 15:55 By Khanyi Ndabeni
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Constitution Hill. File photo.
Constitution Hill. File photo.
Image: Google Maps

About 400 Joburgers came out on Saturday to clean up Constitution Hill‚ Maboneng‚ Braamfontein and Newtown in preparation for the Afropunk art festival to be held later this month.

In return they got a free ticket to the event.

The annual event is being held in Africa for the first time. It started in 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and has been hosted in cities across the globe including Paris and London.

Creator of the movement Jocelyn Cooper said they decided to bring the festival to Joburg after a visit two years ago.

“We thought to complete the circle of the festival we should bring it to Africa. There was no better place than here in Johannesburg. South Africa has the most progressive constitution in the world so it made sense for us to bring it here‚” she said.

Among those billed to perform at this year’s event are Solange Knowles‚ Just Themba and DJ Kenzhero.

Cooper said more than 10‚000 people were expected at the event with 2‚ 000 travelling outside the city.

Saturday’s cleanup was done in partnership with Brand SA‚ Con Hill and Mayor Herman Mashaba’s office.

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