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Beachgoers and holidaymakers on KwaDukuza’s most popular and picturesque beaches during this week's Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival (2-8 July) have been able to take advantage of the large variety of sport and entertainment options on offer. The Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival is one of the highlights of the Mr Price Pro Ballito PRIME ASP World Tour surfing event, which together with the entertainment and activities line up has been labelled as the biggest surf, beach and lifestyle event on the African continent. Willards Beach and the car park are have been the focal points of the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival’s jam-packed activities and entertainment programme.
Adrenaline junkies will also be able to get stuck in at the dedicated Mr Price Pro Extreme Park which will be featuring exhibitions and competitions (5 – 8 July) of some of the most popular extreme sports, including skateboarding, BMX and the first ever parkour (free running) event held in South Africa on a purpose-built course. The country's top parkour athletes including Kundai "Kenji" Murapa, Tino Jose Chung and capoeira instructor Chris de Bruyne impressed the crowds to no end with their warm-up session held on Thursday; the Freerunning Speed Run heat is on at 2.30pm on Friday with the Freerunning Best Trick heat held on Saturday at 2.30pm with the finals on Sunday afternoon.
Touch Rugby, Beach Volleyball, Coca Cola Beach Soccer and daily dance competitions have ensured non-stop high action for sun seekers and sports enthusiasts alike, whilst the roses amongst the thorns will have a chance to blossom with the Miss Beach Mania pageant to be held on Saturday 7 July.
The crew from Sugardance Studios and NOAH (Nurturing Orphans for Aids for Humanity) have something special planned for the crowds on Saturday (7 July), and will also be performing onstage at Willard Beach on Friday 6 July, with the event providing the platform for many budding and aspiring performers to showcase their work. Children from the Nkogongo branch of the nationwide NOAH programme will also feature in the performance. “Sugardance hopes to see you at the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival, look out for our talented dancers performing on Friday, and make sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled on Saturday for what promises to be a hugely exciting day” said Julie Robert, owner of Sugardance Studios.
Having once again secured some of South Africa’s leading performers, the free Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Concerts are expected to attract bumper crowds. On Friday July 6, the impressive line-up includes Gangs of Ballet, Wonderboom, the Ard Matthews Trio, Shadow Club, aKing, Crash Car Burn and Flash Republic; with the party set to continue on July 7 with Toya Delazy, Lloyd Cele, iscreamstix, Locnville, Pascal & Pearce, GoodLuck and Dino Bravo. The concerts will take place at Salt Rock Beach on 6 and 7 July from 16h00 – 22h00.
Crash Car Burn, who solidified their place in the South African music scene with nominations for two SAMA 2011 Awards (“Record of the Year” and “Best Engineer”) will be one of the premier acts at the first concert. As one the country’s leading power-pop-rock acts, Crash Car Burn have also tasted international success,having toured nationally with USA pop-punk legends “The Ataris” in 2009.
aKing will also no doubt be a popular act on the first night. Formed in 2007 by Fokofpolisiekar members Hunter Kennedy and Jaco Venter, who teamed up with Laudo Liebenberg and Hennie Van Halen, the melodic rock band rapidly grew their fan base thanks to a hectic tour schedule. At Coke Zero Fest in 2009, the band shared the stage with international acts Oasis, Snow Patrol and Panic! at the Disco, announcing their arrival on the South African music scene.
After rocking out on Friday night, the second night of the MrPrice Pro Beach Concerts (Saturday July7) promises to offer slightly more for those upbeat house and dance music fans. Twin brothers and electro hop music duo Andrew and Brian Chaplin of Locnville will be riding a wave after releasing their second studio album (Running toMidnight) in July last year. 2011 was a memorable year for the pair, who also walked away with the coveted ‘Best Newcomer’ and ‘Best Selling Album’ for their debut studio album ‘Sun in my Pocket’ at the 2011 SAMA’s.
GoodLuck are another hugely popular SAMA-nominated who will be keeping the Mr Price Pro Beach Concerts crowd on their feet. The duo of Ben Peters and Juliet Harding is known for enchanting crowds with their new wave of live electronics and their performance at the concert is guaranteed to inspire, uplift and get the crowd jumping up high.
Flash Republic
DJ Dino Bravo
Image caption: Parkour athlete Mark Modimola (Pretoria) practicing his moves for the parkour competition coming up over the next few days.
Image caption: Malcolm Kabuka(Durban), Nlmusa Mfeka(Durban) Get an early start to the day at the Mr Price Beach Festival 2012.
Image caption: Tanna Murphy (Durban), Tarryn Foster (Durban), Kasia Kayat (Ballito), Amy Wright (Ballito) and Gabby Marcolefas (Ballito) enjoy the sunny weather at the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival 2012.
Image caption: Rachel Sarafidis(Ballito) adds Rudy Palmboom(Bluff,Durban) to her autograph book.
Image caption: Flash Mob on the beach organised by the Sugardance Dance Studio.
Image caption: Brian Capper.
Image caption: Parkour athletes Jose Chung (Pretoria) and Tristan Wrench (JHB) give the spectators a taste of whats to come in the next few days.
Image caption: John Casquinha.
Image caption: The young girls from Sugardance Dance Studio keeping the crowd entertained.
Image caption: Yashiana Mudali (Verulam), Teezos Mudali (Verulam) displaying an array of T-Shirts available here at the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival 2012.
Image caption: Morgan Knowles (JHB), Lola Nalson (Ballito), Morgan Nalson (Ballito) and Kayla Adams (Ballito) having a look at the Jewelry and accessories on sale at the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival.
Image caption: Michael Ugoeze (Durban) standing with his selection of handbags on sale here at the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival 2012.
Image caption: Rudy Palmboom Poses with some fans at the Mr Price Pro Ballito Beach Festival. Rudy Palmboom(Bluff, Durban), Simone Formato (Ballito), Gemma Poretti (Ballito) and Rachel Sarafidis (Ballito).