Sandton's first Open Street Sessions are on now: Sandton residents got a snippet of sidewalk entertainment earlier this year

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The town crier and her sidekick at Village Walk in Sandton on the first day of the Open Street Sessions.

Sidewalk entertainment in Sandton Lunch breaks in Sandton now come with a side order of entertainment, as various artists prowl the pavements performing for passers-by. September 6, 2006 By Tammy O'Reilly LUNCHTIME in Sandton's central business district just got a bit more interesting. Every Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Saturday from 5 September until 18 November, musicians, dancers, and theatre performers will entertain passers-by in the busiest parts of Sandton as part of the first Sandton Central Open Street Sessions. Sandton Central, the urban management team in charge of upkeep of the area, has put together the programme to show that art can enhance the working environment, uplifting the mood of those who witness it. A total of 80 performances, by 32 artists, will take place on sidewalks outside Sandton City, Village Walk, next to the food traders on 5th Street, and inside Nelson Mandela Square. A special commission by Sandton Central is the town crier bouffant who, with her sidekick, will make her rounds and read out announcements made by residents and businesses each day of the programme. The public are invited to post notices of any kind in the red postbox on the Maude Street side of Village Walk. Both members of the duo - local clown Phillipa Yaa De Villiers and Sibusiso Khambule - trained at the Jacques Le Coq School of International Theatre in Paris, but are well-known locally. "It's important to realise that Sandton is a globally competitive environment so we had to make sure that the artists we got are of a global standard, but with a local flavour," said Cara Reilly, marketing manager of the Sandton Central Management District. All the participating artists are being paid, so passers-by can stop and watch the shows without any obligation to pay for the performances, she added. Some of performers to look out for are the Green Man, a one-man musical act, who plays three instruments simultaneously; world-renowned acoustic guitarist Steve Newman; and Lesotho-born musician Mpho Molikeng. For more information log onto Sandton Central website. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za