Western Cape marks Heritage Month by serving up freebies and a festival

You can get free access to some of the province’s most spectacular nature reserves and interesting museums this September

15 September 2021 - 06:00
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Kogelberg is one of 22 nature reserves you can visit free of charge during CapeNature's 7th annual Access Week in 2021. File photo.
Kogelberg is one of 22 nature reserves you can visit free of charge during CapeNature's 7th annual Access Week in 2021. File photo.
Image: CapeNature

September is in full swing. It’s brought with it the first whiff of spring and a few much-needed sprouts of positivity.

With Heritage Day falling on September 24, Mzansi is also celebrating Heritage Month and — as an added bonus — Tourism Month, which is an opportunity to embrace our country’s magnificent tourism offerings.

To celebrate, the Western Cape is serving up great freebies and a theatre festival this month:

GET FREE ACCESS TO ...

SELECT CAPENATURE RESERVES

CapeNature is the government entity which manages and maintains nature reserves and wilderness areas around the Western Cape.

To celebrate Heritage and Tourism month, it is running its seventh annual Access Week, which kicked off on Monday and will run until September 20.

As part of Access Week, CapeNature is providing the public with free access to 22 of its nature reserves along the West Coast and Garden Route and in the Winelands, Overberg and Karoo.

As part of the campaign, visitors will receive free general access and will be allowed to hike, mountain bike and participate in other day activities as allowed in the reserves.

For more information, terms and conditions and the full list of participating reserves, visit capenature.co.za.

SELECT MUSEUMS (IF YOU’VE BEEN VAXXED)

Anroux Marais, provincial minister of cultural affairs and sport, announced that select museums in the Western Cape will provide free access to members of the public who have been vaccinated during the month of September.

To gain free access, partial and fully vaccinated visitors need to present their vaccination cards.

The announcement was made to not only encourage South Africans to get vaccinated but to promote the museums participating in the campaign and to commemorate Heritage Month.

The following museums are participating in the initiative:

  • Bartolomeu Dias Museum in Mossel Bay;
  • Beaufort West Museum;
  • CP Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn;
  • Drostdy Museum in Swellendam;
  • Genadendal Museum;
  • Great Brak River Museum;
  • Hout Bay Museum;
  • Jan Danckaert Museum in Porterville;
  • Montagu Museum;
  • Old Harbour Museum in Hermanus;
  • Oude Kerk Volksmuseum in Tulbagh;
  • SA Fisheries Museum in Laaiplek;
  • Stellenbosch Museum;
  • Togryer Museum in Ceres;
  • Wellington Museum;
  • Wheat Industry Museum in Moorreesburg; and
  • Worcester Museum.

SUPPORT THE ARTSCAPE HERITAGE FESTIVAL

Each year, the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town celebrates SA’s diverse cultures and identities by hosting the Artscape Heritage Festival, a production featuring dance, musical and theatre performances.

After moving online due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the festival will again be a live event. 

My Word! Redesigning Buckingham Palacea salute to famed author Richard Rive and District Six — will be performed in the Arena from September 13 to 25, while the musical The Kingdom of Ubuntu will be performed in the Theatre on September 24 and 25. 

WATCH | The trailer for 'The Kingdom of Ubuntu'

Tickets can be bought via Computicket.


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