| Sunday is Jazz on the Lake |
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| Written by Ndaba Dlamini | |
| Wednesday, 03 September 2008 | |
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Joburg is throwing itself a party - Jazz on the Lake celebrates its eightieth year as a city. It's also spring and Arts Alive, so prepare for a grand day out.  Simphiwe Dana is joining in the party JAZZ on the Lake aims to banish the cold weather of the past week and welcome spring properly - with music, revelry and celebration.
And adding to the festivities, this year the concert - on Sunday, 7 September - celebrates Johannesburg's 80th birthday as a city. A popular feature on the Arts Alive programme, the annual day-long festival is expected to attract a huge crowd to Zoo Lake. To keep traffic to a minimum for everyone's enjoyment and safety, roads around the park will be closed on the day. They will reopen once all revellers have left the lake after the concert, which ends at 5pm promptly. Organisers have appealed to people to come early to avoid missing out on great entertainment. The concert, which is free, starts at 10am, with a delectable line-up of celebrated jazz musicians billed to perform on the day, including Simphiwe Dana, Jimmy Dludlu, Zamajobe, Don Laka, Zimbabwe's Sam Mtukudzi and Indian Ocean from India. Graham Dickson of the Jazz on the Lake Concert Task Team - made up of the Arts Alive Co-ordinating Committee, and the South African Police Service stations at Rosebank and Parkview - says the concert is a family affair and people are encouraged to bring their picnic baskets and camping chairs for a great family day out in a safe, well-policed and liquor-free environment.  Jazz on Lake will feature Jimmy Dludlu The organisers have also stressed that the concert area will be cleared of all people when it ends at 5pm sharp. For this reason, they have appealed to people to arrive early. Last year, a large number of people arrived an hour or less before the concert ended, and they had to gather their belongings for the cleaning staff to get to work almost before they had settled down for some fun. To ensure proper control, barricades in and around Zoo Lake will be set up. A free park-and-ride facility will be available at the Metro Centre building in Braamfontein on the day. There will be also be parking at dedicated areas outside the outer cordon, from where buses will ferry people from Jan Smuts Avenue to the drop-off point near Zoo Lake. Residents of Parkview, Parkwood and Saxonwold who live inside the barricaded area will get two permits per household allowing them to drive through the area, as well as a map indicating security points. They must get these passes from the caravan outside Parkview Police Station, and must bring along their identity documents and electricity account to receive their passes. Residents who need more than two permits need to collect them from the police station. Permits can be collected on:
Organisers say security will be tight on the day and no alcohol, drugs or weapons will be allowed into the concert area. All people and cars will be thoroughly searched. The following roads will be closed:
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