The ISPS Handa Art of Polo Invitational is a first of its kind for Africa and will take place on Saturday 22 April 2017 at South Africa’s first polo and wine estate – Val de Vie Estate – nestled in the picturesque Paarl-Franschhoek valley. ISPS Handa, who is an International Sports Promotions Agency, supports numerous golfing and polo events around the world. They also support the Laureus Foundati
on and Prince Harry’s annual Sentebale Polo Cup. Founder of ISPS Handa, the enigmatic Dr Haruhisa Handa, is a well-known global patron of the sports and arts, a successful businessman, philanthropist, as well as an accomplished tenor and artist. He developed a love for polo and the South African continent when he first visited a few years ago, and so the collaboration with South Africa’s most dynamic polo duo, VDELUXE, was a natural progression. Combining for the first time: the aristocratic sport of polo with the arts, classical music and fine dining; this innovative polo event will be a late afternoon Black Tie affair, and will bring together leaders in business, sports and the arts to network as well as celebrate this unusual combination. Inspired by Dr Handa’s three loves – Art, Music and Polo, the event will offer various artistic performances, displays and exhibitions, followed by a high-goal polo tournament, which is certain to fuel the interests of many discerning, sophisticated South Africans. The polo tournament will also be quite unique in the sense that it will pit the ‘best of Africa’ against the ‘rest of the world’, while the event’s visual backdrop, décor and culinary offering will be inspired by a mash-up of Afro-Asian influences. VDELUXE, the organisers of the event, is a 7-year polo Joint Venture and partnership between VIVIDLUXURY and VAL DE VIE EVENTS, spearheaded by Anina Malherbe-Lan and Simone de Wet. Together, the dynamic duo and their team of experts conceptualized and executed more than 18 world renowned polo events over the last 7 years, including the Veuve Clicquot Masters Polo Cape Town, the Cintron Pink Polo (both in their 7th year), the Sentebale Polo Cup for HRH Prince Harry, and many more. With more than 35 combined years of experience in international luxury and polo event ventures, the ISPS Handa Art of Polo Invitational will no doubt be another resounding success for VDELUXE.
