This Wednesday the Mother City will come alive to the sounds of Cape Town’s only mass busking event – “Making Music for Madiba”, and it’s been done for a good cause. All donations collected will go towards music education for less privileged children.
On 18 July the world will commemorate former president Nelson Mandela’s legacy by encouraging everyone to partake in 67 minutes of service to help others. Mandela Day is celebrated annually and calls on everyone, every day, to make the world a better place.
Following the success of last year’s celebrations Smile 90.4FM will once again, together with their listeners, have 67 musicians busking at 67 different locations for 67 minutes at 12pm. Everybody is welcome to take part and this year will see a wide variety of musicians from drummers, guitarists, singers, and even recorder rock stars busking across Cape Town and spreading smiles through their music.
One of the more notable volunteers for the event is a group of street musicians who are no strangers to Capetonians and tourists. Joe and the Ganja Muffins have been performing at Greenmarket Square together for over 14 years. Front man Joe Petersen, with his djembe, kazu, shaker, and distinctive voice, has been busking for over 30 years, and is a well-known figure amoungst locals and tourists. The group took part in Making Music for Madiba last year and were so excited about this year’s event that they were the first artists to sign up. They are also well known to fans of SA’s Got Talent in which they made it to the semi-finals of the competition in 2015.
They visited the Smile 90.4FM offices recently to give the team a taste of their Wednesday performance on Greenmarket Square.
Joe Petersen is just one of 67 talented musicians raising money for music education of underprivileged children on Mandela Day. Look out for a busker in your area or if you’d like to sign up to take part in Making Music for Madiba sign up on our website: www.smile904.fm/home/smile-90-4fm-making-music-for-madiba/
