From humble beginnings in 2000, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF), a brainchild of former photojournalist Rashid Lombard, has grown into the largest lifestyle festival in Africa and a major drawcard on South Africa’s social calendar.

It is ranked fourth largest in the world after the New Orleans, Montreal and Monterey Jazz Festivals.

The idea was first conceived while Lombard was visiting the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland in 1998. Having been a regular at such events all over the world, he felt the need for South Africa to join the international jazz community.

An agreement between Lombard and organisers of the North Sea Jazz Festival resulted in a five-year contract, in which the Dutch company collaborated and provided training for the local crews, in between Lombard frequenting Holland for ongoing consultations.

When this contract ended in 2005, espAFRIKA – for which Lombard is chief executive officer, and majority-owned by Sekunjalo Investments – took ownership of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

According to a survey done by Melodytrip, the CTIJF scores highly in hospitality, programming (it features 40 artists – 50% Africans) as well as for safety and security. It further received top accolades for its lifestyle section, which incorporates crafts, music CDs and a photography exhibition.

Partnerships with key stakeholders have been cardinal to the festival’s survival.

As Lombard emphasised: “We can’t do without sponsorships.”

The Department of Arts and Culture has been one of the major benefactors; this is in recognition of the festival’s potential for job creation as well as training and development opportunities. Lombard aims to transfer these skills to other African countries and franchise the concept there to empower the locals.

“The success of the CTIJF is a direct result of the cordial relationships we have with all our local service providers, contract workers, the private and public sectors and especially my dedicated staff of 22 – made up of 70% women – not to mention my fellow director Billy Domingo, the chief operations officer,” he said.

The festival is a logistical challenge and commands a staggering R35 million to put it all together. Attendance figures have steadily grown from 14 000 in the year 2000 to gross 33 500 visitors in 2009, with five stages now used.

There were 2 750 jobs created over nine days for casuals and contractors in 2008, while 2 105 jobs were created during the 2009 festival.

Its economic significance to the region and country can been seen in these numbers: It contributed R572.11 million to the gross domestic product of the Western Cape in 2009, up from R430m in 2008 – an increase of 33%. Nationally, it accounted for R761m of GDP in 2009, up from R680m in 2008 – an increase of 12%.

In addition, there are free concerts staged at the Green Market Square prior to the festival, for the benefit of residents who cannot make it to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) for the two-day music extravaganza.

Held at the Good Hope Centre from inception, the festival moved to the CTICC because the latter had reached full capacity of 7 000 in 2003, only in its fourth year.

“This did not make financial sense, as the size of the Good Hope Centre did not allow for growth,” said Lombard.

“Moving to the CTICC enabled us to accommodate 15 000 patrons nightly, create more space for food courts, crafters’ village, small traders; and added another performance stage.”

What factors have contributed to the festival’s phenomenal growth?

“Star jazz players are a major component and, of course, the programme equally plays a crucial part,” noted Lombard.

Plans are under way to franchise the concept to more African countries. Lombard recently returned from Angola, where he helped organise a festival in Luanda. Mozambique is next, with a festival slated there for October this year.

Botswana will follow soon thereafter, then Senegal, Nigeria and Rwanda in no particular order.

“Our approach is one of transferring skills to our counterparts in Africa, to a point where they can stand on their own,” stated Lombard.

What informs the organisers’ minds when picking artists for the festival?

“They (artists) must be serious jazz lovers, symbolise what’s popular; we also consider what crosses over and what is currently trendy with the youth,” he explained.

Responding to criticism that the CTIJF had become more elitist than inclusive, Lombard retorted: “We can’t produce everything for everyone.”

The 12th edition of the festival takes place from 25 to 26 March 2011, at the CTICC, Cape Town.

David Mwanambuyu