Taste of Africa for Cranbourne

By Bridget Brady
CRANBOURNE will get a taste of Africa in November.
The Cranbourne Turf Club will be home to a music and arts festival called Out of Africa later in the year.
South African-born Graham Oosthuizen, who currently lives in Narre Warren South, came up with the idea to start such a festival after organising an array of hugely successful events in South Africa and New Zealand, including one that attracted about 50,000 people.
He arrived in Melbourne about four years ago and has decided the City of Casey would be the perfect place to continue his work.
Mr Oosthuizen said the festival, which he hoped would be held over two days, provided an international platform for artists from Africa and Australia to showcase their talents and provide people with a chance to better understand and embrace different cultures.
The tri-nations cultural exchange program would provide young artists from Casey to go overseas and perform at festivals in Africa and New Zealand.
He also hoped it would foster business connections between the countries and develop a sister city relationship with the City of Casey and Cape Town in South Africa.
The festival in Cranbourne would include African music, performances and cuisine, Mr Oosthuizen said.
“It would be a dream come true for them (performers) to step on a plane and come to another country. If we can get the youth involved in initiatives like this, we are off to a good start.” Local schools and community groups in Casey would be invited to take part in the festival, Mr Oosthuizen said.
“Music has always been a passion of mine. I’m looking forward to working with Cranbourne as we need support from businesses.”
Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce (CCC) president Judy Davis said she supported the Out of Africa festival.
“We are happy to get behind anything we can do to help our youth of today,” Ms Davis said.