LocalPlaces

29/10/2024

Our latest LocalPlaces newsletter is out! Read it all here: https://mailchi.mp/f43a26f38bce/year-end-again , and be informed of what we have installed for you this year-end and holiday season.

LocalPlaces - Johannesburg & Cape Town
Explore and learn with us.

We are ready to host you for exceptional storytelling dinners and other events in hidden gem venues such as the Red Room at JSE Newtown (above) and Sibling in the Bo-Kaap (below).

28/10/2024

The kind of email from a client that makes your Monday. Yay!

"Hi Gerald & Charlie,

I hope that you are well and having a fantastic Monday!

I just want to send through a MASSIVE THANK YOU to you both and the team that assisted with our Opening Dinner, you guys are absolutely incredible, and we couldn't have asked for anything better - the group truly loved it, I believe there was even a standing ovation in the bus on the way home! 😃

Thank you so so much, it was truly such an amazing evening - I really appreciate everything that you put into it!

Looking forward to working with you both soon again!"

27/10/2024

Telling the history of Cape Town is no easy task. As it is complex, contested, controversial, astonishing and surprising all at the same time. To pinpoint the most important events that shaped this city are nearly impossible, as there were so many of significance.

“For me the most significant dates are the 1510 Battle of Salt River between the local Khoe people and the Portuguese ship fearers – the first documented conflict between local African people and Europeans passing by. As well as the discovery of diamonds in what today is Kimberly (1867) and gold in what is today Johannesburg (1886). It was these mineral discoveries that led to British occupation of the entire region and the fast development of Cape Town into a city,” states LocalPlaces storyteller, Gerald Garner.

“Other significant dates that come to mind involve the construction of Cape Town’s first habour, the Alfred Basin, that was completed in 1870 and the construction of the modern harbour during the 1930s, which involved the infilling of the sea as the habour was dug deeper. The sand and rock got dumped in what today is the foreshore to create nearly 200 ha of new land out of the sea, changing the shape of the city forever.”

So many historic events have shaped and reshaped Cape Town. Come and hear this fascinating story at a LocalPlaces storytelling dinner, hosted at Sibling in the Bo-Kaap every Thursday evening. With only 6 dinners remaining for this season - between 7 November and 12 December, it is essential to book straight away to experience a magnificent storytelling dinner.

15/10/2024

Pressing sugar cane juice at the Juice Den in Forsburg during our recent LocalPlaces
Quick Encounter in Fordsburg, Johannesburg.

LocalPlaces - Johannesburg & Cape Town.
Explore and learn with us.

15/10/2024

Did you know? Apart from tours and storytelling events, LocalPlaces hosts regular monthly Quick Encounters in Johannesburg and Cape Town. A wonderful quick immersion into a city space or community. Free to LocalPlaces members or R100 per person if you are not a member. Pictured is our recent Fordsburg immersion in Joburg. Mango lasi, eats and coffee tantalised our taste buds!

LocalPlaces - Johannesburg & Cape Town.
Explore and learn with us.

14/10/2024

It is October. The most beautiful month. In Gauteng, the streets are turning Jacaranda purple in celebration of summer, and year-end function season is here. At LocalPlaces, we offer a wide variety of options for inspiring and meaningful year-end functions and experiences – from walking tours to pub crawls and storytelling lunches/dinners. We can also put a customized event together for you.

A popular option is a storytelling lunch or dinner at the JSE Newtown, the historic erstwhile stock exchange in Diagonal Street. Marvel at Johannesburg’s astonishing history in this landmark building. We can host up to 80 guests in the Red Room (original traders’ bar) and several hundred on the extraordinary traders’ floor, still standing as it was left in 1996 when open-cry trading was replaced by a computerized system.

LocalPlaces - Johannesburg & Cape Town
Explore and learn with us.

14/10/2024

A LocalPlaces Cape Town Storytelling Dinner is simply extraordinary. It provides you with insight and new understanding of the remarkable story of Cape Town and South Africa. A perspective-changing and inspiring experience.

Gerald Garner’s storytelling delves into the complex and contested events that have shaped Cape Town as it is today. It makes you understand the reluctant and fragmented, but splendorous city. A place that has evolved from ancient times with wide grazing plains and verdant valleys, through the era of international competition for new shipping and trading routes. To the establishment of a vegetable garden and a fence. With consequent conflict and the arrival of refugees, farmers, slaves and scholars.

As a byproduct of international conflict and competition, a city emerged that found itself at the center of the Scramble for Africa. From war and industrialization, a metropolis grew only to be ripped to pieces by apartheid. Through the struggle to the dawn of democracy, from overcoming its past to imagining a new way for Cape Town as an African city of the future.

It is the story of Cape Town, South Africa and Africa, set within the context of international relations. It is astonishing, perplexing, shocking and inspiring all at the same time!

Available in two themes:

Cape Town’s Astonishing Background Story
– From ancient times to the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Creation of Contemporary Cape Town
– The 20th & 21st centuries, from 1910 to 2024.

Hosted at Sibling Louw and Lou in the Bo-Kaap with public dinners on Thursday nights for our Summer Season till 12 December. Private group event bookings welcome at any time for lunch or dinner.

10/10/2024

Upcoming LocalPlaces Storytelling Dinners, hosted at Sibling in the Bo-Kaap, Cape Town. Join us for an astonishing evening, learning more about the mesmerizing history of Cape Town and South Africa. Combined with delectable South African farm-style cuisine in an exclusive private dining room.

Wed 16 Oct: SOLD OUT.

Thu 17 Oct: 7 SEATS AVAILABLE.

Wed 23 Oct: AVAILABILITY.

Thu 24 Oct: AVAILABILITY.

LocalPlaces - Johannesburg & Cape Town
Explore and learn with us.

10/10/2024

Join us this Saturday for a LocalPlaces Quick Encounter in Fordsburg, Johannesburg.

Saturday 12 October, 2-4pm
Fordsburg Tasting Sensation
We amble around Fordsburg, enjoying mango lasi at the best juicery in all of Joburg, before exploring the market and surrounding shops for Middle Eastern, Indian and Pakistani inspired delicacies.

Meet in front of Dosa Hut, 48 Central Road, Fordsburg.

Costs:
LocalPlaces members attend for free
If you are not a member, the fee to join is R100 per person.
All food, drinks, and shopping for your own account on the day.

To book your place, send a WhatsApp to +27 82 894 5216 or email to [email protected]

03/10/2024

Getting ready for another fantastic LocalPlaces Cape Town Storytelling Dinner at Sibling Louw and Lou in the Bo-Kaap tonight. When are you joining us. Bookings are now open for Wednesdays and Thursdays between 23 October and 15 December 2024.

01/10/2024

If there is only one thing you do in Cape Town, then it must be the LocalPlaces Understanding Cape Town walking tour. It will provide you with insight and understanding of the history and make-up of this fascinating city. In fact, it will make you understand the entire South African story. With this knowledge, you will enjoy the rest of your visit to the city and country much more and make better sense of it all!

This leisurely, 4-hour walking tour is easy and slow, covering about 3,5km, with the focus on the background history and context of the city. It provides you with insight into how the city, and South Africa as a country, has come into being. It is the best introductory tour of the city as its history and layout will suddenly make perfect sense to you.

It is a tour for the curiously minded, but it also includes plenty opportunity for sightseeing, photography, experiencing the vibe and ambience of the city – and even a stop or two for drinks and sampling a local delicacy along the way (any food and drinks for your own account).

Available Monday till Saturday as an open tour in the morning at 9am, subject to availability. And as a private group tour at all other times.

LocalPlaces - Johannesburg & Cape Town
Explore and learn with us

01/10/2024

City centre should accommodate up to 50,000 people by 2040

30/09/2024

Our LocalPlaces storytelling dinners at Sibling Louw and Lou in Cape Town, featured on Cape Talk again today! Listen to the conversation here:

Pippa speaks to Gerald Garner from Local Places about a new foodie experience which offers the combined pleasures of wonderful food and fascinating storytelling.

26/09/2024

In Joburg, join our quick encounter on Saturday 28 Sep, 11am-1pm. Italian delicacies at Super Sconto and drinks at Radium Beer Hall, before that landmark goes on auction. Info here:

JOBURG Quick Encounters are perfect for locals and travelers alike who want to experience special places and meet inspiring people. These are not lengthy tours but quick, mini events – typically visiting significant places that you would not enjoy as much, or find as meaningful, if you visited it ...

26/09/2024

What could be better than combining delectable South African farm-style cuisine with mesmerizing historic storytelling for an unforgettable night of togetherness in a beautiful Cape Town venue? This is exactly what a LocalPlaces Storytelling Dinner at the Sibling private kitchen studio in the Bo-Kaap entails. It will leave you perplexed, intrigued and inspired!

Public storytelling dinners available as follows:
Thursday nights: Part 1: Ancient times till 1902
Wednesday nights: Part 2: 20th & 21st Centuries (1902-2024).

Menus include delicious items such as Namaqualand Lamb Stew, Butterbean Chicken Curry, Paptert with Tomato Smoor & Spinach, Honey Glazed Pumpkin, Traditional Cape Beef Mince Bobotie, Kingklip baked in a Malay-inspired sauce, and of course, Chef Louw's super famous Malva Pudding.

Fascinating stories in Part 1 about a storm that wiped out a British fleet of ships and caused the construction of the Alfred Basin, Cape Town's first harbour. As well as the Angol-Zulu War and the imprisonment of King Cetshwayo in the Cape Castle, and the Scramble for Africa marked by British occupation and expansion into Southern Africa.

Coupled with stories from earlier times: The Mapungubwe Kingdom, the San and the Khoi people, Portuguese ships and the Battle of Salt River. Followed by competition between Britain and the Netherlands on the sea trading routes, as well as the emergence of France as a serious competitor with the Cape's occupation switching between the Dutch and British. To the industrial development of Cape Town and South Africa after the discovery of further north of diamonds and then gold. And the devastating South African War (Anglo-Boer War) when Cape Town grew into a formidable city.

In Part 2, stories cover the emergence of the Union of South Africa, the dreaded Land Act of 1913, the First World War, the era of fast industrialization, urbanization and the emergence of Fascism and Nationalism in the 1920s and 30s, with architecture switching from British Victorian and Edwardian to the International Art Deco style. On to the 2nd World War when South Africa fought with the allied forces against Na**sm, only to adopt the hated, discriminatory Apartheid System after the war in 1948. Followed by the struggle against apartheid spilling over into the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 and South Africa leaving the British Commonwealth, declaring a republic. While the ANC adopted an armed struggle and a strategy of sabotage. The Rivonia Trial and the imprisonment of the leaders on Robben Island. The economic boom of the 1960s, which resulted in the modernist, brutalist city that included the destruction of District Six. The struggle gaining momentum in the 1970s with the Soweto Uprising spreading across the country and Sanctions against the National Party government installed in the 1980s, as well as the War in Angola costing a fortune. With Apartheid finally crumbling in 1990 and democracy installed in 1994, we ask how the Cape Town of today is, and what is the future of the city.

Gain new perspectives, learn with us. And enjoy a scrumptious meal in an astonishing Cape Town venue.

Storytelling by Gerald Garner of LocalPlaces
Venue and cuisine by Sibling Louw and Lou.

22/09/2024

Delectable cuisine, inspired by farmlands north of Namaqualand, served at Sibling private kitchen studio in the Bo-Kaap. This is part of the menu for the LocalPlaces Cape Town Storytelling Dinners hosted at Sibling.

Namaqualand 'Vaalvleis' Lamb Stew.
Bean, Chickpea & Cauliflower Curry.
Beetroot salad
Honey-glazed Pumpkin.
Paptert with tomato and spinach.

Open for Summer Season bookings till 15 December 2024

22/09/2024

Nothing can be more enjoyable than a night of farm-style South African cuisine, served in an astonishing city venue and combined with mesmerizing storytelling about the history and making of Cape Town and South Africa.

Experience this at a LocalPlaces Cape Town Storytelling Dinner, hosted at the Sibling private kitchen studio in the Bo-Kaap.

Join us for our Summer Season dinners till 15 December. Sibling will be closed from 15 Dec - 13 Jan as the chefs are booked for private cheffing over the festive season. This means there are only 8 weeks of storytelling dinners to go! Book now as seats are limited.