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Mother City Hop

South Africa's first international swing festival: Cape Town, 19–21 March, 2016.

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Mother City Hop

Mother City Hop

Mother City Hop

Mother City Hop

Mother City Hop

South Africa's first international swing festival: Cape Town, 19–21 March, 2016.

South Africa's first international swing festival: Cape Town, 19–21 March, 2016.

South Africa's first international swing festival: Cape Town, 19–21 March, 2016.

South Africa's first international swing festival: Cape Town, 19–21 March, 2016.

Brendan Argent
Brendan Argent
Brendan Argent
Brendan Argent
2 Campaigns |
Cape Town, South Africa
$12,522 USD by 119 backers
$11,302 USD by 112 backers on Aug 8, 2015
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects

UPDATE: Now that we've closed the campaign on Indiegogo, ticket sales have moved to Quicket: 

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/11267-mother-c...



A swing festival in Cape Town, South Africa, from the 19th-21st March 2016. Three days of workshops, social dancing, live music and parties in and around our beautiful city.

Cape Town Swing is a registered non-profit in South Africa (512-505 NPO) run by a group of lindy hoppers who are working to grow the swing dancing scene in Cape Town.


We want to rekindle what was once a thriving part of South African culture by creating a swing revival in Cape Town to share with the global community. Although we’re quite far from the rest of the swing world and don’t often get to share swing outs with dancers from other countries, we’re passionate about swing and finding ways to link it to South African culture. This festival will help us achieve two goals:

  1. It will boost the local scene: having international dancers and teachers on our soil will be a huge inspiration to our dancers.
  2. It will help establish Cape Town as an international lindy hop destination.

South Africa had a swing era of its own in the 1930s-50s as township musicians responded to the American swing music they heard on the radio. This was deliberately disrupted, and eventually ended, by the forced removals and racist policies of the apartheid government, as the music was associated with a rise in black consciousness.




Many swing festivals run at a loss for the first couple of years, but as a fledgling scene, we are not able to take that risk and we don’t have the financial capital to pay for the major costs upfront. By selling tickets far in advance, we can gauge demand for the event, scale it to the number of people who want to come and still have time to confirm the booking with the teachers and purchase flights.

We're pulling out all the stops to make this an event that is absolutely not to be missed. We've been blown away by the support and positivity so far, and are excited to announce that our teacher lineup features some of the best names in lindy hop today. Our campaign is pitched with three targets and will grow to meet the demand.

  • Our minimum target of US$10,000 will bring 5 teachers to Cape Town, allow for 3 tracks and 2 large parties. 
  • Our medium target of ($15,000), we will increase the lineup to 7 teachers, 4 tracks and 3 parties. 
  • Our ultimate target ($20,000) will bring 9 teachers to Cape Town and will allow us to use the very best venues and live music for the parties. 

The following teachers have offered their support and will be joining us if we meet the targets above.

  • Target 1: Peter Strom & Naomi Uyama; Remy Kouakou Kouame; Thomas Blacharz & Eglė Nemickaitė
  • Target 2: The teachers in Target 1, plus Alice Mei & Peter Kertzner 
  • Target 3: The teachers in Targets 1 & 2, plus Jo Hoffberg & Kevin St Laurent

UPDATE: We've received enough contributions to reach Target 1 (but not 2 or 3), which means that we'll be bringing Peter, Naomi, Remy, Thomas and Eglé to Cape Town.



The focus of the weekend is on the classes, with 8 hours of workshops in Lindy Hop, Charleston, and 6-count swing, as well as 6 hours of concept classes by local teachers.

We’ll be throwing swingtastic parties in the shadow of Table Mountain and in the Cape Winelands, with live music:

Welcome Party on Friday 18th March
“Soweto meets the Savoy” on Saturday 19th March
After Party on Monday 21st March

This weekend is all about swing and we'll be packing the days with top quality classes so that you can get as much dancing out of your weekend as possible. There will be several tracks to cater for all levels, from beginner to advanced dancers.

Party Pass: Provides access to all three parties.

Day Pass: Includes access to one full day of classes, as well as the party for the same night.

Full Pass: Includes 14 hours of classes for a given level, including concept classes, as well as access to all three parties. Limited numbers of discounted Full Passes will be available for the duration of the campaign.

Sponsor a dancer: If you're unable to join us in Cape Town but would like to be a part of this project, you can sponsor a dancer from South Africa or Mozambique who would otherwise not afford a pass.

All Star: This gives you the whole cahoot: access to all three days of classes and parties; a tour package to explore the beautiful Cape; as well as a limited-edition Mother City Hop t-shirt.

Group Special: A special campaign rate of $700 for six full passes (for the cost of 5 passes, the sixth gets in for free). Includes access to all classes and parties!


If you're not able to join us in Cape Town, but you still want to be part of this event or contribute in some way, you could:
  • Order a limited-edition Mother City Hop t-shirt or tote bag;
  • Donate an amount of your choice to help lower our costs;
  • Contribute to our sponsorship fund to help dancers in South Africa and Mozambique who would otherwise not be able to attend to join the festival ; and
  • Share this campaign with your networks, and on Facebook and Twitter.

Official event T-shirt

Limited-edition tote bag


Our city was voted the #1 travel destination in the New York Times last year, and a weekend is too short to experience all that it has to offer. For those dancers who would like a longer stay, we'll be running a series of tours to great spots in and around the city, led by local lindy hoppers, in the week leading up to the event.

   

Cape Town is steeped in history and there are many must-see sites for anyone interested in the the country. Visit the world-famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Robben Island where Madiba was imprisoned for 27 years, the District 6 Museum and the historic Slave Lodge.

    

See the city from above on the iconic Table Mountain, one of the 7 Wonders of the World. Hike up one of many beautiful routes, or catch the cable car, and swing out on the top as the sun sets!

   

Explore the Cape Peninsula that separates the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Highlights include penguins, perfect beaches and the Cape Point Nature Reserve at the southwestern tip of Africa.

   

Stroll through the Cape vineyards on the world's longest wine route. A relaxed day trip in the beautiful Stellenbosch area with wine and chocolate tastings.

We're collaborating with our nearest lindy hop scene, Hodi Maputo Afro Swing, to bring you a Mozambique Dance Exchange! In the week after Mother City Hop, a bunch of us will be heading to Mozambique to join African dance workshops in Maputo, the wonderful beach of Tofo and perhaps even a safari in Kruger National Park. Check out mothercityhop.com/mozambique for more info.

We might be far away, but flights don't cost as much as you might think. For a list of flight prices, check out our website here. There are many convenient accommodation options in Cape Town within easy reach of the venues. We'll be listing them here. If you'd prefer to surf a couch rather than book a room, we'll be setting up an option to couchsurf with a local dancer in our scene.

Most of the money we raise through ticket sales and donations will go towards paying for teachers and their travel and accommodation. The rest of the budget will go towards the bands and DJs, venue hire, sound and lighting, photography and marketing. The more tickets we sell, the bigger and better the festival!

The campaign is based on the flexible funding model, which means that the funds will be processed even if we have not passed the minimum target by the end of the campaign (7 August). The festival will go ahead at the scale determined by the revenue, and we are confident that we will be able to create a unique and inspiring event, as well as have a strong positive impact on the Southern African swing community even if the full targets are not reached. At that point, we will email all those who purchased tickets, providing a link to the registration form, which will complete the registration process. 

At the start of the campaign the exchange rate is approximately R12 to $1. For EFTs between South African banks, please use this exchange rate. The early bird ticket prices in dollars ($140 and $150) then correspond to R1680 and R1800. We will accept these rates in rands for direct bank transfers between South African banks. Early bird tickets can only be claimed while that tier still has tickets remaining. 

The group discount special is $700 through indiegogo or R8400 through a direct bank transfer, for 6 people.

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Choose your Perk

featured

Full Pass

$150 USD
Full pass for the weekend: ~ 8 hours of class time ~ 6 hours of concept classes ~ Entrance to all three parties
9 out of 40 of claimed

Thank You Postcard

$10 USD
We'll send you a custom THANK YOU! postcard from the Mother City lindy hoppers
3 out of 200 of claimed

Tote bag (collection)

$12 USD
Limited edition tote bag. To be collected at the event.
4 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Event T-shirt (Collection)

$15 USD
One limited edition Mother City Hop T-shirt To be collected at the event
14 out of 100 of claimed

Tote bag (shipped)

$16 USD
Limited edition tote bag. To be shipped after the event.
Estimated Shipping
May 2016
1 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Event T-shirt (Shipped)

$20 USD
One limited edition Mother City Hop T-shirt Shipped to you after the event
Estimated Shipping
May 2016
7 out of 100 of claimed

Party Pass

$50 USD
Not able to join us during the day? Or just keen to party it up? This ticket is for you! Entrance to all three parties.
4 out of 100 of claimed

1-Day Pass

$70 USD
Full day pass to classes and party.
5 out of 50 of claimed

Taster & Party Pass

$90 USD
Access to all 6 "taster/concept classes" for the weekend. These will include concept classes in swing as well as local dances such as gumboot dancing, which will be accessible for a range of levels. This also includes a Party Pass, with entrance to all parties.
2 out of 30 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Full Pass

$160 USD
Full pass for the weekend: ~ 8 hours of class time ~ 6 hours of concept classes ~ Entrance to all three parties
3 out of 50 of claimed

Fully sponsor a dancer

$160 USD
Can't come to our festival but still want to support? Sponsor a local dancer who otherwise would not be able to attend.
2 out of 30 of claimed

Cape Town Tour Package

$180 USD
We'll take you on a 5-day feature tour of the Cape. Transport included (food and accommodation not included). ~ Peninsula Tour ~ Table Mountain cableway ~ History Tour ~ Winetasting in Stellenbosch and surrounds ~ A swing dancing class for kids in the Kayamandi informal settlement
2 out of 24 of claimed

All Star Pass

$330 USD
~ Full pass ~ Full Tour Package ~ Limited-edition event t-shirt
3 out of 10 of claimed

Group special

$700 USD
Pay for 5 people and the 6th comes free! Each pass includes access to all the classes and parties.
0 claimed
sold out

Full Pass

$130 USD
20 out of 20 of claimed
sold out

Full Pass

$140 USD
30 out of 30 of claimed

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