The summer sun has been set to sizzle and the soft sandy beaches are ready and waiting for beach towels and bronzing bodies. The Diaz Strand Hotel is hosting its 10th annual Summer Sun Festival with great entertainment, great artists, great food and fun for the entire family, guaranteed! Organizers decided to commemorate the 10th anniversary of this spectacular summer event by giving it a festive theme – Carnival. The scene is set; summer at the Diaz Strand Hotel in Mossel Bay is going to be a summer for the history books – whether your history is documented in a scrap book, in tweets or on your Facebook wall.

The festival will come alive with masks, fire dancers, balloon twisters, face painters, creative workshops and lots, lots more. The official kick off will be with a Harley Davidson Breakfast Run ending at the Hotel. The famous Diaz Strand Outside stage will be covered with a stretch tent and provide entertainment junkies with a bit of respite from the sun’s potent rays. As always it will be a buzz with the best in hot entertainment, with old favourites like the Diaz dancers and new ones still to be unmasked.

Food and cocktail making demonstrations will be presented by the Eden School of Culinary Art whilst young and upcoming artists will entertain audiences with their talents. The afternoons will be time for music, when various bands will have everyone either on their feet or at least tapping them. Well-loved artists like Kevin Leo, Mel Botes and AD Smit will roam the 3 restaurants and the outside stage entertaining holidaymakers.

The Seaside Carnival Market will host a market everyday, including lots of handcrafts and interesting buys. For the hungry, famished or peckish, there will be plenty of food stalls for every taste under the sun. If you are looking for an entertainment injection, look no further; with events like target shooting, the mechanic bull, jumping castles, inflatable rockets and a water pond, your fix of fun is definitely here.

The Summer Sun Festival has taken the planning out of summer, so all you have to do is choose your favourite and enjoy. Old favourites like the Billabong Surf Tournament, the Mossel Bay Harriers Run and the MK Avontoer will be back and bigger than ever. The touch rugby tournament and Rob Louw Invitational is also back, but with new sponsors it will be known as the Four Cousins Touch Rugby Tournament. With well-known names in rugby circles, both sevens as well as provincial and national names in the mix, be sure not to miss the showdown.

Kids rule at the Summer Sun Festival and apart from the bumper entertainment for the young ones on the outside stage like ventriloquists, puppet shows, clowns and much more, there will also be a cinema room with bean bags next to Amelie’s Art Cafe as well as a Babycare Playroom in the Convenience Market Coffee Lounge.

The Pero Diaz Evening Theatre is always a treat and this year will be no exception. With artists like Dozi, Jannie Moolman, Elizma Theron, Beeskraal, Heinz Winkler & Charlize Berg, Jan Blom, Piet Botha and Jack Hammar, Helene Bester and many more, there is no need to look any further for summer sun spectaculars.

Pero Dias Theatre programme

Whether you strut your stuff in one of the countless pageants or competitions, walk away with a great giveaway or simply sit day after day revelling in the incredible talent and entertainment the outside stage has to offer, the choice is yours. All we know for sure is that if ever there was a summer where you never needed to wake up and ask “what are we going to do today”, it is now, because the Summer Sun Festival has it all. For more information and the full festival programme, go to www.summersunfestival.co.za, because the summer is HERE!