The 2011 Christmas lights in Cape Town
We took a drive through central Cape Town tonight to see the annual Christmas lights in Adderley Street.
Our exploration coincided with an open-air concert and market in this street, which meant that it was blocked off at the Spin Street intersection (near the Company’s Gardens) and at the Strand Street intersection (near the Golden Acre). This pretty much scuppered our plan to cruise slowly up and down this thoroughfare, stopping at intervals so I could get out of the car to take some nice pictures.
There were live music performances on a stage, and numerous stalls in the street, and hundreds of people milling around and enjoying the laid-back vibe on this pleasantly warm summer’s evening.
As a result of the crowds, I couldn’t get many clear shots of the lights, but I figured you might still like a glimpse of how we celebrate Christmas at the southernmost tip of the African continent!
Grains of Sand 
They are all very interesting photos, I like to see what your city look like, when you are on a tour like this. The Christmas decorations are very nice and impressing.
There is a red hop-on hop-off City Sightseeing Bus that drives around our City – that is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time, but haven’t gotten around to yet. I think it’ll be a wonderful way of showing you around Cape Town.
Glad you liked the Christmas decorations! I hadn’t gone to see them at night for many years, so this was quite a treat. It was just a pity there was a market at the time, so we couldn’t drive/walk all the way.
Africa’s Greatest City?! 😉 I still want to go into George and take a couple of photos of the lights here. Which, of course, aren’t as spectacular as in AGC ;-), but will give me a chance to practice my night-time photography.
Giggle… well, the neon SIGN said ‘Africa’s Greatest City’, so I was just quoting! 😉
I hope you will find it muuuuuuch easier than we did to take photos of the Christmas lights, and that you’ll be able to stop and walk, without huge crowds all around you. I look forward to the pics! Take your tripod! 😉
Exciting to see the colorful glimpses of Africa’s largest city at Christmastime! There are probably also a lot of fun going on this evening on New Year’s Eve ;-)?
Actually, we are having a quiet braai (barbecue) at home, seeing in the New Year with our nearest and dearest.
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones, Truels!
Thank You so much for sharing – we haven’t been to see the lights for years. Great to be able to enjoy from the comfort of my chair. Happy New Year to and your loved ones.
Thank you for your kind wihes, Indigigirl – we hadn’t been to see the Christmas Lights in town for many, many years either. But this was the first time that Mom-in-law was in Cape Town for Christmas and New Year, so we just *had to* go and see them. 🙂
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones too!
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