South Africa: World Cup 2010

It’s our first edition of Stories from the PlanIt, and we start where it all may have started–the continent of Africa!  More specifically, and in celebration of one of the greatest single events bringing together all of mankind, we start in South Africa, home of the 2010 World Cup (WC).  We thought we’d tell you just in case you were that one person on Earth that didn’t know.        

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Football will be the topic of interest and all eyes will be on South Africa come June 11th, 2010, where the first 45 minutes of play will begin between El Tricolor de Mexico and the host nation.  The local crowd will be cheering on their boys from Mzansi (the way the locals call South Africa) and blowing their trademark vuvuzelas (which are quite annoying to many, on and off the field).  Despite the fact that many have called for their ban, and FIFA, the international regulating body of football, briefly considered it as well, the horns will be present as well.        

Blowin' the Vuvuzelas

Regardless, given that the World Cup is such a significant event for any country hosting it, many event promoters decide to hold their events during the WC to take advantage of the greater exposure afforded by the hoards of visitors.  Therefore, it is safe to assume that if one is fortunate enough to visit South Africa during the WC, that football is just one of the many things that you will be able to enjoy.  This is where ISoPlanIt comes in.        

In this edition of Stories From the PlanIt, we will be bringing you up to speed on all of the peripheral events taking place all over South Africa.  We will provide links to events ranging anywhere from wine tastings to sardine runs and more.        

Relax, we know that once you purchase those plane tickets, the next step is to put together a few things that you may want to do.  That’s were we come in.  We will search the internet for neat things for you to do while you’re trying to snag a ticket to anyone of the sixty-plus games of the WC.  We will be arranging this information geographically in relation to the host cities and chronologically beginning from the weekend before the WC (June 5th & 6th).  If you notice that we are missing anything, feel free to contact us at:  info@isoplanit.com  We will include your event free of charge on this blog and on the actual web site going live soon.        

Notice also that some of the acts that we are mentioning here are not very well-known in the U.S. and maybe slightly known in Europe.  If you are going to contribute with information regarding local South African artists–FEEL FREE!  That’s exactly what ISoPlanIt is all about.  Lets meet our planet.  When in South Africa, do as the South Africans do! 

City/Venue	Date:Event	More Details	Event URL
Johannesburg/
Orlando Stadium	10 June:     FIFA Kick-off Celebration Concert		Web site
Soccer City Stadium	11 June – 16:00 Group A  South Africa – Mexico***
	14 June – 13:30 Group E  Netherlands – Denmark
	17 June – 13:30 Group B  Argentina – Korea Republic
	20 June – 20:30 Group G  Brazil – Côte d’Ivoire
	23 June – 20:30 Group D  Ghana – Germany
Ellis Park Stadium	12 June – 16:00 Group B  Argentina – Nigeria
	15 June – 20:30 Group G  Brazil – Korea DPR
	18 June – 16:00 Group C  Slovenia – USA
	21 June – 20:30 Group H  Spain – Honduras
	24 June – 16:00 Group F  Slovakia – Italy
The Coca-Cola Dome	9 July:     Celebrate Africa (w/Andrea Bocelli)		Web site
The Coca-Cola Dome	4 July to 6 July:     Wine Show Joburg 2010
Catz Pyjamas	Nightly:     Live Music
Moyo Melrose Arch	Nightly (Except Sundays):     Live Music
Tshwane/Pretoria
Loftus Versfeld Stadium	13 June – 16:00 Group D  Serbia – Ghana
	16 June – 20:30 Group A  South Africa – Uruguay
	19 June – 20:30 Group E  Cameroon – Denmark
	23 June – 16:00 Group C  USA – Algeria
	25 June – 20:30 Group H  Chile – Spain
Pretoria/
Various	Various:     Tour of Pretoria’s Soweto (Historic)		Web site
	Various:     Bronberg Meander	Most active on Sundays	Web site
Muldersdrift/
	5 & 6 June/3 & 4 July:     The Crocodile Ramble	Most active 1st Weekend	Web site
Vandervijlpark/
	Various:     Vaal Meander		Web site
Durban/
Durban Stadium	13 June – 20:30 Group D  Germany – Australia
	16 June – 16:00 Group H  Spain – Switzerland
	19 June – 13:30 Group E  Netherlands – Japan
	22 June – 20:30 Group B  Nigeria – Korea Republic
	25 June – 16:00 Group G  Portugal – Brazil
	June to July:     Sardine Run	Video	Web site
	2 July to 4 July:    Ballito Prawn & Jazz Festival		Web site
Joe Cool’s Nightclub	Daily:    A good place to watch the WC matches if left w/o tickets
	Various:    Deap Sea Fishing		Web site
	Various (by appointment) Microlight Flights		Web site
	By Appointment:   Surf in Durban (classes avail.)		Web site
	By Appointment:   White Water Rafting tours		Web site
Victoria Street Mkt	Weekend:    Street Market		Web site
Various	Daily:    Golfing in Durban		Web site
Nottingham Road
	Various:     Midlands Meander		Web site
Nelson Mandela Bay
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	12 June – 13:30 Group B  Korea Republic – Greece
	15 June – 16:00 Group G  Côte d’Ivoire – Portugal
	18 June – 13:30 Group D  Germany – Serbia
	21 June – 16:00 Group H  Chile – Switzerland
	23 June – 16:00 Group C  Slovenia – England
	By Appointment:    Deep Sea Fishing		Web site
	By Appointment:    SAND Boarding and Quadbike		Web site
East London/
Sparg’s Superspar	1 July to 3 July:     Wine Fair		Web site
Grahamstown/
Various	20 June to 4 July:     National Arts Festival		Web site
CapeTown/
Green Point Stadium	11 June – 20:30 Group A  Uruguay – France
	14 June – 20:30 Group F  Italy – Paraguay
	18 June – 20:30 Group C  England – Algeria
	21 June – 13:30 Group G  Portugal – Korea DPR
	24 June – 20:30 Group E  Cameroon – Netherlands
The Rainbow Experience	African Dance Classes @ The Rainbow Experience		Web site
	The Castle Forge		Web site
Baxter Theater	Vodacom Funny Festival 2010		Web site
Artscape	29 June:    Le Grand Cirque – Fantazie		Web site
Zula	Restaurant on Famous Long street with nightly shows		Web site
169 on Long	Lounge.  Check out the Jazz and “Mo-Funk” parites	Wednesday to Saturday	Web site
The Fez Club @ Vaudeville	Nightly:     Varied entertainment		Web site
Robertson/
Roberston Wine Valley	3 June to 6 June:     Wacky Wine Weekend		Web site
Stellenbosch
	5 June:     Stellenbosch Winter Festival		Web site
Rondebosch, Cape Town
Various	7 June to 11 June:     Vodacom Funny Festival		Web site
Greyton
	12 June to 13 June:     Greyton Winter Classical Music Festival		Web site
	19 June:     Greyton MTB Classic		Web site
Durbanville
	24 June to 26 June:    High Street Winter Wine Festival		Web site
George
	10 June to 13 June:    George Cheese Festival**		Web site
Knysna
	2 July to 11 July:     Knysna Oyster Festival**		Web site
Stellenbosch
Various	Kayamandi – The African Drumming Experience		Web site
Scarborough
The Cape Farmhouse	5 June:     Guy Buttery	Video	Web site
The Cape Farmhouse	19 June:    Nick and Dave
Camps Bay
Eclipse	Nightly:     Live music
Polokwane
Peter Mokaba Stadium	13 June – 13:30 Group C  Algeria – Slovenia
	17 June – 20:30 Group A  France – Mexico
	22 June – 20:30 Group B  Greece – Argentina
	24 June – 16:00 Group F  Paraguay – New Zealand
	Daily:     Waterberg Safari
	Daily:     Kruger Safari
	Daily:     Timbavati Safari
	5 July:     Hoedspruit Airshow and Game Festival		Web site
Nelspruit
Mbombela Stadium	16 June – 13:30 Group H  Honduras – Chile
	20 June – 16:00 Group F  Italy – New Zealand
	23 June – 20:30 Group D  Australia – Serbia
	25 June – 16:00 Group G  Korea DPR – Côte d’Ivoire
Waterval Boven
	Various:     Highlands Meander		Web site
Rustenberg
Royal Bafoken Stadium	12 June – 20:30 Group C  England – USA
	15 June – 13:30 Group F  New Zealand – Slovakia
	19 June – 16:00 Group D  Ghana – Australia
	22 June – 16:00 Group A  Mexico – Uruguay
	24 June – 20:30 Group E  Denmark – Japan
Sannieshof
	Various:     Hartsmeander		Web site
Magaliesburg
	Various:     Magalies Meander		Web site
Mangaung / Bloemfontein
Free State Stadium	14 June – 16:00 Group E  Japan – Cameroon
	17 June – 16:00 Group B  Greece – Nigeria
	20 June – 13:30 Group F  Slovakia – Paraguay
	22 June – 16:00 Group A  France – South Africa
	25 June – 20:30 Group H  Switzerland – Honduras
Oolong Lounge	Daily (Except Sunday):     Live Music and Dancing
**Part of the “Garden Route”
***All WC fixtures drawn from WC FIFA official Site