Conferencing & Meetings | 26 Jul 2015 | By Sun International

GrandWest’s SunExhibits Centre has undergone a dramatic transformation for the staging of the internationally-acclaimed TUTANKHAMUN – HIS TOMB AND HIS TREASURES exhibition. The expo, which opened on Tuesday, 2 June 2015, spans over 2 000 square metres of the expansive 3 136 square metre SunExhibits Centre, previously known as the Magic Castle.

If you attended the magnificent King Tut Exhibition at GrandWest recently, you’d have noticed that the Cape Town exhibition centre had undergone something of a ‘magical’ transformation (that’s if you were able to tear your eyes away from the incredible Egyptian artefacts). However, it wasn’t the casual wave of a wand that transformed the Magic Castle into the new SunExhibits Centre, but hours of logistical planning.

If you’re looking for event venues in Cape Town, here’s the lowdown on GrandWest’s new Cape Town exhibition centre, and how the area formally known as the Magic Castle was transformed into the new SunExhibits Centre, in order to accommodate King Tut.

• King Tut is an internationally acclaimed exhibition, which spans over 2000 square metres of space. Because the Magic Castle offered a breezy area of over 3000 square metres, it provided the perfect location for GrandWest’s new Cape Town exhibition centre.
• Additionally, the SunExhibits Centre’s staggering roof height of 6.8 metres in the centre, which tapers down to 6.3 metres on the perimeter wall, provided the perfect space for some of King Tut’s more sizeable exhibits.
• Besides the size of the Cape Town exhibition centre, organisers wanted the expo to be easily accessible and secure, and the venue needed to be capable of offering additional entertainment, food, and beverage choices. Located at GrandWest, SunExhibits offers expo goers easy access to a range of outlets, ample space and secure parking.
• Everything about SunExhibits is new and shouts quality. New blue-grey carpets were installed and the pylons been painted a dark grey, which provide the perfect backdrop for any event or exhibition. King Tut’s golden treasures literally gleamed in this flawless setting.
• A large armada of forklifts, scissor lifts and material lifts forged their way around SunExhibits to install specialised lighting, sound and computing equipment to effect the transformation that visitors witnessed at the King Tut exhibition.
• 11 containers carefully packed with replicas, stands, projectors and other equipment followed to complete the technologically advanced puzzle that made up the King Tut exhibit.
• The conversion of the venue took 14 days to complete by a dedicated team of 15 installers specially flown in from Germany. They were supported by a similar-sized team of local experts.
• The exhibition faithfully reconstructed the tomb of Tutankhamun to scale and presented over 1000 exquisitely replicated burial treasures produced by the finest Egyptian craftsmen under scientific supervision. These exact replicas, coupled with state-of-the art technology and video material, provided a vivid illustration of the culture and spiritual world of the ancient Egyptians.
• Beautifully transformed for the expo, SunExhibits Centre’s versatility and capacity for hosting grand-scale, themed events and expos is indisputable.

GrandWest has added this incredible new Cape Town exhibition centre to its already well-positioned entertainment and conference hub that is situated adjacent to the Magic Company. The versatile event venue in Cape Town can accommodate large amounts of visitors, depending on the kind of exhibition hosted in the space.

If you’re looking for event venues in Cape Town to host exhibitions, launches, conferences or open market days, SunExhibits will tick all the right boxes for you.
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SunExhibits: The new Cape Town Exhibition Centre at GrandWest

GrandWest’s new Cape Town exhibition centre, SunExhibits, recently hosted the internationally acclaimed King Tut exhibition.

SunExhibits: The new Cape Town Exhibition Centre at GrandWest

When looking for event venues in Cape Town, King Tut organisers were impressed with the size and additional offerings of GrandWest’s new SunExhibits Centre.

18 May 2018 | By Sun International

As the biggest entertainment destination in the Western Cape, we’ve brought some of the biggest names in the biz to the Mother City, from rock stars to human cannonballs. Not just lighting up our stage with concerts at the Grand Arena, we’ve lit up your weekends with incredible events in Cape Town too!

So join us as we throw it back, way back, to celebrate the moments that made you sing, made you get up and dance, inspired you, moved you… maybe even changed you. Here’s the best of the best concerts at GrandWest and the most exciting events in Cape Town.

Can’t Stop This Thing We’ve Started

Legendary rocker Bryan Adams performed live at Grandwest in what was one of the biggest concerts in Cape Town in 2017. As part of his Get Up World Tour and to promote his 13th studio album, he rocked the stage at the Grand Arena with both his old and new hits, from Please Forgive Me to Summer of 69. Were you there?

Because We’re Happy

Ever since it was announced that Pharrell Williams would be performing live in concert in Cape Town in September 2015, we had Happy playing on repeat. His Grand Arena concert kept us all smiling — not only is he a global superstar with an insane number of musical smash-hits to his name, he’s a downright awesome guy too.

King Tut Exhibit Schedule

Calling all Egyptologists

In June 2015, we treated budding Egyptologists, hobbyist archaeologists and the innately curious to one of the most intriguing events in Cape Town. The critically acclaimed Tutankhamun — His Tomb and His Treasures exhibition brought to life the mystery and history of Egypt's ‘boy pharaoh’ Tutankhamun and featured over 1 000 exquisite replicas of burial treasures and a spectacular reconstruction of his tomb. King Tut also gave us a chance to show off one of our newest event venues in Cape Town — Sun Exhibits.

First Came Ed Kowalczyk, Then Came Live

When Ed Kowalczyk announced he’d be gracing our stages as part of his Throwing Copper Unplugged tour, we could hardly contain our excitement. Little did we know the former Live frontman would be back in Cape Town with the full band in tow for a 25th-anniversary reunion concert at GrandWest in November 2017! Confession: we rocked it hard at the Grand Arena, singing along to Lightning Crashes,
I Alone, All Over You and Lakini’s Juice.

A Winter Wonderland

Ready, steady, snow! Remember when we turned Sun Exhibits into a snowy winter wonderland? We do! Snow World was one of those special events in Cape Town that made everybody happy, from little kids building snowmen to bundled-up couples sipping glühwein in the charming Alpine Village. There were ice slides, an Ice Bar, a raised viewing deck and a Snow Box. For Capetonians accustomed to finding their fun in the sun, Snow World was a breath of fresh — icy — air!

Join the Joyride

When the Roxette Cape Town concert took place in 2016, we were the first in line to get Dressed for Success in our best pop-glam eighties gear to Join the Joyride. As part of their 30th anniversary world tour, Roxette reminded us — in a rocking live performance at the Grand Arena — why their lyrics are as relevant today as they were when we were teenagers.

A Kiss From a Rose

In 2016, we swayed to the tunes of Seal, live in Cape Town, on our stage at the Grand Arena. He sang hit after hit, taking us with him on a journey back in time to his 1995 hit single, Kiss from a Rose, from the Batman Forever soundtrack. His flirtatious performance in Cape Town lives on as one of our favourite memories. Swoon.

King Tut Exhibition Paris

Aussie Circus

When the Aussie Circus roared into the Grand Arena in early 2016, we couldn’t help but be caught up in the razzle and dazzle of acrobatic feats and scintillating stunts. The all-human, modern circus extravaganza swept us up in a whirlwind of flying acrobats, human cannonballs, hilarious clowns, dazzling dancers and death-defying motorcycle tricks. We won’t forget the thrills we experienced at this exciting Cape Town event for a long time!

Return of the Sugar Man

Fans of legendary Mexican-American songwriter, Rodriguez, were treated to a special concert in Cape Town when the Sugar Man returned to our shores in February 2016. With something of a cult status, Rodriguez hadn't released new music for decades and had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth with rumour mongers claiming he’d died in extraordinary ways. Imagine our surprise when he arrived in South Africa for a live concert back in 1998. There’s no other musician in the world that can claim he came back from the dead.

To all the Girls We’ve Loved Before

As part of his world tour, Julio Iglesias — the suave Spanish singer your mother loves — returned to South Africa in 2016 for a live show in Cape Town and thrilled the audience with famous hits such as Moonlight Lady and To all the Girls I’ve Loved Before. Known as one of the best-selling artists of all time, the crooner (who is in his seventies) was joined on stage by a fantastic orchestra and a troupe of dancers to up the ante on his old-school-cool pizazz.

King Tut Exhibition Cities

Un-Breaking Hearts in Cape Town

In September 2015, Toni Braxton and Babyface performed together in concert at the Grand Arena for the first time in Africa, and we were there! Their live show in Cape Town was the ultimate throwback treat and featured classic 90s romantic hits like Un-Break My Heart and Another Sad Love Song.

Love in the Future, One of Our Best Cape Town Concerts

King Tut Exhibit Tour Dates

We’ll admit it. This was one of our all-time favourite concerts in Cape Town. John Legend, the nine-time Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum-selling singer touched down in Mzanzi in November 2014 for his much-anticipated All of Me world tour. His GrandWest concert was an intimate celebration of romance, and there were more than a few of us in the crowd at the Grand Arena who wished we were Chrissy Teigen.

Then there was Chris de Burgh and Bastille, but sadly we can’t include all of our best concerts at GrandWest — we’d have no time get ready for the next one!

King Tut Exhibition 2019

Have we missed any of your top live performances in Cape Town? Tweet us and let us know!