Pan African Space Station (PASS) is a 4-day music intervention from 1-4 October 2008 across Cape Town. This African music festival is curated by Ntone Edjabe and Neo Muyanga and is presented by the Africa Centre with the support of Spier.

One of the headline acts of the festival will be a unique radio station that will broadcast 30 days of cutting edge music and information from Global Africa to the world from 12 September - 12 October 2008.

The music festival is about music from Global Africa, music that articulates nation-building in the African world. Artists will not be expected to represent a country or cultural group.

They will be able to experiment with new and historic music that transcends stereotypes and that speaks for self.

Pan African Space Station’s primary aim is to articulate, musically, the Africa Centre's programmatic theme of entangled nations in an African context.

The event is an opportunity for Capetonians and visitors to engage in the rich and complex creative expression which binds Africans from across the world together.

PASS is dedicated to exploring new musical territory and the festival seeks to profile local and international acts which may not yet have reached household-name status in South Africa but which are still at the very top of their game.

Participating artists include Nacao Zumbi (Brazil), Ayetoro (Nigeria/Ghana), Cindy Blackman Quartet (US), Ze Maria Quartet (Mozambique/Angola) and a range of progressive South African artists, including Carlo Mombelli and the Prisoners of Strange (Jhb), Blk Jks (Jhb), Rock Art (Cape Town) and many other fantastic (South) African musicians, bands and artists.

This African music festival will also be acknowledging independent music venues across the city, with events happening at different times and different venues.

These venues will be brought closer together through a temporary transport network of buses, which will serve the festivals routes.

Through this approach, venues such as Langa's Guga S'thebe and Assembly in District Six may be linked conceptually. Other selected venues include Mowbray's Town Hall and the Slave Church on Long Street.

Pan African Space Station:
Date: 1 – 4 October 2008
Venue: Spier Wine Estate
Location: Stellenbosch

We always are modest in what to recommend (since you know your taste yourself) but what an African Music Festival this promises to be;

With Neo Muyanga (BLK Sonshine) and Ntone Edjabe (Chimurenga, Pan African Market), The Africa Centre and Spier Estate, we certainly can say we added it to the ‘top events to go to’ during October in Cape Town.

P.s. CapeTownMagazine.com will enable you to discover some of the best South African music online soon;

Molo says: “For more information on the best of South African artists, musicians, DJ’s and bands, subscribe to our Editor’s Picks Newsletter”.