Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra…

We went to the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra on Sunday evening and it was out of this world. The entire family went, and it was fantastic. There is a reason the Summer Sunset Concert Season should be on everyone’s Cape Town bucket list.

Imagine being in the most beautiful gardens in the world, a summer evening picnic under an African sky and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra playing for you. It is out of this world dreamy…

So many friends have told us that the one thing to do in Cape Town is to go to a Summer Sunset Concert, that it is an unforgettable experience and one of Cape Town’s top “to do” events… and for some reason we have never been to one. Well now we have been and what can I say… this is definitely an unmissable Cape Town Classic event.

So on a perfect summer evening, with misty clouds pouring over the mountain to cool us down we sat and listened to: Rossini’s “William Tell Overture”; Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dance No 10”; Rodrigo’s “Guitar concerto (de Aranjuez)” with soloist James Grace on guitar and Beethoven’s “Symphony No 5”.

Some of my kids have been longing to hear the orchestra for years… and to finally get to see it in the great outdoors was pretty much a dream come true.

A Family Friendly Event

This is a very family friendly event, full of lots to look at and listen to, there were folk there from every age and stage… all there to enjoy the Orchestra playing beautiful music. It is a very relaxed atmosphere, and a very engaged crowd… moments when you could have heard a pin drop. And our kids were transported into the place where fine music takes you…

I think what had always made me a little bit nervous of attending was that huge crowds and kids aren’t always the perfect fit. What was I thinking? This is Cape Town and things are just as relaxed as we say there are. There were lots of kids there and a very family friendly audience.

Another thing that worried me was that it would be impossible to find parking and we would have to carry our picnic for miles… turns out, and I will say it again… this is Cape Town. Capetonians are very relaxed and slow to get moving, everyone does everything at the last minute and just but getting there half an hour before the start we were able to find parking easily and very close to the entrance.

A short walk up the hill to the rolling lawns of the concert area and little wait in the queue… not nearly long enough to get in some good drawing, which is the main reason some of my children visit Kirstenbosch. And in we went, found a good spot and put out our picnic blankets… and sat snacking and relaxing while the orchestra warmed up and the crowds arrived.

The gardens were open for an extra hour after the concert, so we sat and had our supper…

And chatted and “people watched” as the crowds left…

Pretty much last to leave… will the last person please turn out the lights…

There are still plenty of concerts to attend this season, you can take a look at the line up here.

I would like to thank Kirstenbosch Gardens and Hippo Communications for the Summer Sunset Concert Series, for providing our family with tickets so that we could all attend together and for the GiveAway Tickets for our readers earlier in the season. This is not a sponsored post and all the opinions expressed in this post are entirely our own.