Be part of the world wide celebration of Earth Hour on Saturday 27th March 2010 at the Village Green in Stanford! After the success of Stanford’s 2009 Earth Hour,  it was decided to enhance this event and create a fund-raising opportunity in support of Overberg Conservation Foundation.

With the Cape Town Jazz Fest taking  place 3 days after Earth Hour, the timing was perfect to organise a Mini Jazz Festival in our own village.  The Stanford restaurants will function as Jazz Venues for that evening, and the purchase of a ticket for R60 will gain entrance to all restaurants bordering the Village green and the High street. You are encouraged to meander the High Street restaurants and sample all the delicious foods, company and music on offer.

The event is proud to host Chad Zerf, pianist and vocalist from the UCT school of Jazz, getting ready to perform with George Benson himself at the Cape Town Jazz Fest; Morne Katz - brilliant guitarist and vocalist/pianist; Michaela Faye Kruger in an excellent chocolate Jazz trio at the Art Cafe; Overberg’s very own icon, Piano Ben, will charm audiences with his professional smooooooth sounds at Evergrines; Les Witz at Paprika’s on Saxophone - toe tapping Dixie Jazz man, hat and all!  Johan Dowries from Hawston with the Gospel for the King Jazz Band will be on at Stanford Arms Hall.  On the Blues/ Jazz side famous SA musician Valient Swart, guitarist and vocalist, will be at Gypsies! For those looking for a great ‘knees up’, Mississipi Disco will be at La Finestra.

The Street Market begins at 3pm. The High Street will be closed to traffic and Stanford will turn into a mini New Orleans with treats and eats, pumpkins and pony rides.  The stores and antique shops will stay open late spilling their wares onto the High Street and the stoeps of Stanford.

The Earth Hour picnic on the Green will start at around 6pm. Local award winning produce will be on sale, and visitors can fill their picnic baskets.

The Church bells of the area will peal across the Kleinriver to mark the much awaited 100 million strong global movement of  Earth Hour, when the lights suddenly switch off at 8:30pm plunging the Village Green into Galaxies and Starlight.  The Hermanus Astronomy Society will have star pointers and be available for anyone interested in learning about the night sky.

At 10pm, the Jazz Fest will begin in the restaurants bordering the Green and along the High Street, introduced by a Sax playing “Oh what a wonderful world” across the Village Green. Contact Stanfordinfo or the Art Cafe to book your tickets.

There’ll be much buzzing about on dirt bikes next weekend as Stanford hosts the first round in the exciting Junior National Off-road Championships at Boscheuwel Farm, just outside the village on the R326.

Now in its fourth year, this event caters for riders between the ages of eight and seventeen riding motorcycles or quads. Competitors, together with their families, travel from all the corners of South Africa to participate. The 2009 champions Julian Greef Hoffman, Joshua Louw and Calvin Wiltshire  will again be competing.

The action starts on Saturday 6 February at 9h00. The junior motorcycle and quad classes will race for two hours and refuel at the pits on the Boscheuwel Farm. The senior classes will start their race at 12h00 and will be racing for about three hours. The loop for the two-wheelers will be partly sandy with tight technical sections as well as some hard pack sections while the route for quad racers will include rocky sections as well as technical parts in a forest and two river crossings.

Spectators are most welcome to be part of the action and although they can support their local heroes, motor-sport enthusiasts will be able to get close to the racing and view race bikes and quads prepared by some of South Africa’s well-known names including the former Dakar quad winner, Cornel de Villiers.

With the involvement of a series sponsor this year, the organisers - Western Cape Junior Off-road Club (WCJOC) - are hoping that junior off-road racing will be taken to a new level.

Take a drive out to the venue and give these talented youngsters your support! Stanford welcomes you and wishes you a wonderful weekend of competition and camaraderie.