Umdwebo Lifestyle Festival in Ballito

The fourth Umdwebo Lifestyle Festival promises to light up the Dolphin Coast once again. Swank Projects and the KwaDukuza Municipality have once again teamed up to present the fourth annual Umdwebo Lifestyle Festival which highlights the art of fine living on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal from November 14 to 22, 2008.

Umdwebo is also proud to announce the involvement of Tourism KwaZulu-Natal as an integral partner in the festival.

The festival will feature some old favourite events such as the Ladies that Lunch, the Gala Dinner on the beach, the classic Drive-in, art exhibitions and food and drink tastings as well as some new ones such as a Jazz Picnic on the beach and a Tequila, Chocolate and Cigar evening.

Selected KZN artists works will be featured at the various festival venues. Umdwebo 2008 will be hosted again by KZN’s own Nazarene Khan from East Coast Radio.

Umdwebo kicks off this year on November 14 with a much-awaited soiree at Simbithi Eco Estate featuring one of South Africa's foremost concert pianists - Christopher Duigan. Since his professional debut with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra in 1991 he has maintained an illustrious career and is renowned for his entertaining, eclectic performances. His performance history is rich and includes the works of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Bartok, Shostakovich, Liszt, Mozart and Chopin.

The extremely popular East meets West meets South Cook-Off at the state-of-the-art Nissan Showroom in Gateway Theatre of Shopping takes place on Saturday, November 15 and promises to be as highly tasty and fascinating as last year’s event. Three professional chefs who have very different cultural perspectives and experiences will use their diverse talents to create culinary magic. Each chef is supplied with the same ingredients and is required to create a three course meal drawing inspiration from their cultural heritage. And the best part of this event is that the audience gets to sample all the dishes prepared. Award-winning Stables Wine Estate and water tasting of H2O’s high quality products will also feature at the event.

For a touch of nostalgia, the Ballito Lifestyle Centre Open Air Drive-In on November 15 is a trip back in time to the heady days of drive-ins, slap chips and crackly speakers. This event proved to be one of the highlights of last year’s festival, and with the double feature of “E.T.” and “Cool Runnings” should be just as popular - early booking is advised. The Lifestyle Centre will be transformed into a classic drive-in setting with the smell of freshly made popcorn wafting through the air, courtesy of ACTII Popcorn and H2O will hand out water to each vehicle. The restaurants in the Lifestyle Centre will have a café set up at the back of our viewing area.

Afrikaans music legend Dozi will perform in a matinee concert at the Izulu Theatre, Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom on November 16. Dozi explodes in a hard-hitting show with the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The Poetry, Port and Pudding Evening on November 17 will be held at the luxury 5 star Relais Château Hotel Izulu. Celebrated KZN and South African poet, author and storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, will share her latest work with the audience. Acclaimed Chef Floris Smit will indulge the guests with a three course plated array of pudding desserts and delights, and the Stables Wine Estate will provide the port for this unique evening as Gcina Mhlophe weaves her magic.

The Umdwebo Gentlemen’s Evening (but ladies are more than welcome) at the Imbizo Room at Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom on November 18 is an interactive affair, featuring tastings of premier brand single malt Scottish whiskys, some bourbons and Irish whiskeys. Connoisseurs will talk on the fine art and etiquette of drinking whisky. A Blackjack expert from Sibaya Casino will give an educational lecture-demonstration on Blackjack.

Afterwards professional croupiers will deal a hand to the guests where a round will be played, followed by an interactive educational hand conducted by the individual croupiers.

The immensely popular and legendary Ladies that Lunch, on November 19 has as its theme this year ‘There’s Something in the Air’. Once again it takes place at the Relais Chateaux Hotel iZulu. On arrival, all ladies are treated to a glass of Veuve Clicqout Ponsardin Champagne to complement a delicious and elegant three-course meal prepared by the chef Floris Smit with complimentary wine from The Stables Wine Estate. Entertainment includes an interactive fashion show, showcasing beautiful perfumes presented by David White from the House of Givenchy. Local models will move around the elegantly set tables so that everyone will be able to marvel at the beautiful fragrances and fragrance-inspired designs. The VCP ‘dress’ will be dressed by award-winning fashion designer Michelle Zorab.

The models will be provided by Jenni Rivet from Jenergy!, fitness guru to the likes of Princess Diana and Liz Hurley. Ladies will be treated to Q&A session with world renowned South African plastic surgeon Dr. Des Fernandes, anti-aging skin care and plastic surgery specialist, and the developer of the Environ Skin Care range.

The recently opened Passionada Restaurant with its magnificent views of the sea hosts the Tequila, Cigar and Chocolate evening on November 19. Von Geusau Fine Chocolates will be featured. They are each hand-crafted with only the freshest ingredients using traditional Belgian recipes and are distinguished by their fine, silky texture and high coca butter content.

Guests will be able to sample tequila and enjoy a lecture-demo on leading cigar brands.

The Umdwebo Retrospective Lecture at the Chief Albert Luthuli Museum features former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk on November 20. Previous lectures in this series have been given by Gcina Mhlophe and Dr Peter Magubane.

Internationally-acclaimed opera star, Mimi Coertse returns for the fourth year to the festival to host the immensely popular Black Tie Ensemble on November 20 for a concert of opera favourites at Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom’s iZulu Theatre .The Business Connexion Opera Concert features Coertse hosting The Black Tie Ensemble who will entertain concert goers to a selection of famous and well-known opera, operetta and musical arias.

A first for this year is the Jazz Beach Picnic at Salt Rock main beach on November 21 featuring some of KZN’s premier jazz artists. Patrons can enjoy three one-hour sets of jazz from 7pm as the sun sets with the sound of the waves as a backdrop. Christina Martin School of Food and Wine will supply delicious picnic baskets for R120 a person. Pre-booking is essential. A cash bar is also available. Guests are welcome to bring their own picnic, however no alcohol or glass will be permitted. There is a rain plan as a marquee has been set up on the beach.

The grand finale is the much-talked about Black Tie, Ball Gown but NO shoes Gala Dinner – ‘A Masked Venetian Affair’. This is undoubtedly the highlight of the Umdwebo Festival which takes place on Salt Rock Beach. An octet of voice will entertain the guests for the first part of the evening with a specifically designed Venetian Suite of popular music played at the famous Venice Ball in Saint Marco Square. Thereafter, back by to popular demand, the guests will be entertained by much-loved East Coast Radio DJ Trevor Williams as he gets the crowd going with a superb selection of dance music from the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s. A delectable five-course meal, prepared by the highly-acclaimed chef, Jacqui Rey from Food Matters, will be served at elegantly set tables, complemented by a unique selection of wines from Stables Wine Estate. For this grand occasion Salt Rock beach will be spectacularly transformed, through the use of visual effects, specialist décor and draping, by the award-winning hand of Kathryn Hulett from Function Décor.

Contact: Booking for all Umdwebo events can be made through Computicket.
Festival Queries: Henk Swanepoel on 032 946 0474