A multi-million rand budget has been created between local, metropolitan and provincial interests to enable Durban to stage a number of key projects aimed at satisfying a variety of tastes and entertainment preferences. Together with the contributions in cash and in kind from the SA Millennium Trust, this budget will increase substantially.

The core events will start on December 16, 1999, and continue through until January 2, 2000. All happenings are to be co-ordinated under the central theme of "Unity through diversity", reflecting the multi-culturalism of the city and the province.

The major events that are being planned for the Durban millennium celebrations are:

The Festival of Living Treasures: This open air, outdoor music festival has been chosen by the Durban Metro Council as the event to launch the millennium celebrations in KwaZulu Natal. It also forms a part of the South African national millennium launch.

This four-day festival, planned for December 16 - 19 inclusive, is to be held in the picturesque Shongweni Resources Reserve, home to a variety of wildlife (including giraffe, zebra, buffalo and wildebeest) and indigenous vegetation. A renowned bird sanctuary, Shongweni is a 20-minute drive from Durban. The estate is fenced and has excellent, secure camping facilities.

Twenty-four international artists from as many countries-mostly from Africa-and twenty six South African artists will collaborate in a unique celebration of South African culture, music and the natural environment. They include some well known international names. Artists will perform across three stages and will produce over 60 hours of contemporary, traditional and innovative cross-cultural music and dance.

These collaborations will provide local artists with an excellent opportunity to prepare themselves for the many WOMAD Festivals around the world.

It is expected that 30,000 people from a broad cross section of the population will attend the festival.

In addition to promoting the cultural and environmental treasures that are found in KwaZulu Natal, the festival has a long-term social responsibility and cultural benefits programme which will help maintain its profile all year round.

Port of Durban Carnival: The Carnival will take place over three nights from Friday December 31, 1999, to Sunday January 2, 2000, in an area reaching from Festival Island on the Victoria Embankment, around the harbour's edge to the T-jetty. This arena is expected to attract up to 50,000 revellers in true carnival style.

An emphasis is to be placed on bringing to life the vibrant colours, lights, sounds and rhythms of Africa. A tented villagewill offer a diversity of cuisine and refreshments, while five stages, two of which will be floating in the harbour, will host aspectacular variety of music, dance, and entertainment. A sixth-and main-stage will host the culmination of this feast of entertainment: the Royal Zulu dance of the massed impi. The images generated by these dancers will provide Durban with its broadcast opportunity to the world.

Midnight-the magic hour when the new millennium is born-will be celebrated by a display of pyrotechnics.

An armada of yachts and other marine craft is expected to gather in the Bay of Durban, with each vessel hosting its own on-board party.

The Carnival will be an affordable and highly entertaining event for the young at heart and the culturally adventurous. It will offer visitors a variety of dining, dancing and musical experiences. The Port of Durban Carnival draws its creative spirit from Ocean Action, Durban's world famous surfing event, and it will be an even larger and more multi-cultural attraction than this.

Durban Millennium Ball, ICC Durban: This black tie event will take place at Durban's R300m international convention centre, the ICC Durban. Attendance will be restricted to 2,000 guests, who will be escorted upstairs onto the outer concourse for an early evening sundowner and cocktails prior to the premiere screening of the "Durban Millennium Experience", the latest production by internationally acclaimed film-maker, Anant Singh. This 35 minute feature film will capture the essence of the past, present and future of the city. The KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, with guest performers, wiII entertain the diners.

The Millennium Ball and the Port of Durban Carnival will be linked by a television relay and guests at one event will be able to view the activities at the other.

The KwaZulu Natal Millennium Parade: The Millennium Parade is aimed to bring together citizens from villages, towns and cities throughout the province, who will be encouraged to create floats and pageants symbolising the cultural attributes of KwaZulu Natal. The parade will set off on a route through the city, taking in each of the three main events-first the Beach

Downtown Durban

Those remembering the creation of England's soulless cities of the 1960s will also find evidence of the notorious Lord Holford's hand in Durban. Fortunately his plans to demolish the City Hall and Railway Station were halted.

The old, distinctly Victorian-British railway station stood derelict but is now a tourist junction offering a range of facilities including the Parks Board, tour operators and accommodation agencies. The old train sheds behind the station today house an enormous, bright and airy, up-market shopping mall-The Workshop.

Behind the palm-framed Neo-Baroque domes and colonnades of the City Hall is a complex incorporating South Africa's second largest Art Gallery and the National Science Museum. This is world-renowned for its ornithological research and impressive cockroach collection.

Behind the City Hall is the old Courthouse, now a national monument and home to Natal's Local History Museum with itsfine collection of old costumes and replicas of original Natal houses. Postcards of old colonial Durban are obtainable from the bookshop. The Maritime Museum on the docks, the Old Fort and Garden of Remembrance will be of interest to British history buffs.

The Killie Campbell Museum, in an elegant old colonial homestead, preserves an exciting collection of Africana including Zulu crafts. However, those wishing to buy local art and craft work should visit the African Art Centre in the Guildhall arcade. It's particularly well known for Zulu beadwork and Rorke's Drift tapestries and carpets.

Then there is Durban's main tourist attraction-the vibrant Indian market with its exotic blend of imported spices, oriental smells, curios. Nearby, the golden domed Juma Mosque, supposedly the largest mosque in the southern hemisphere, has its walls embellished with texts from the Koran. However the blend of eastern culture with modern western technology in the architecture of the Hari Krishna Temple of Understanding possibly draws more visitors.

Lovers of the performing arts may enjoy an evening at one of the five theatres in the Playhouse. Originally a picture palace, it has seen many reincarnations over the years.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Nine: Autumn 1999Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)