Today (Wednesday 16 August) will be exactly 19 days since the Winter Wonderland Festival in Gordon’s Bay was cancelled because no permits had been issued by the City of Cape Town, and not on account of “incoming flash-floods”, as originally claimed by organiser Ed Bham.
The dust seemed to settle a bit until the Gordon’s Bay Business Forum (GBBF) held a meeting last Tuesday (8 August) at Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club to discuss the aftermath of the event. The meeting was described by Gordon Burnham-King, chairman of GBBF, as “robust” and “frustrating”, but it was agreed future planning of the event will more closely involve the local community and Bham’s contract will be shortened.
Burnham-King confirmed the meeting was well attended (although no-one from the Ed Bham Foundation attended) and admitted some of the questions posed by those attending could not be answered in full, as GBBF is still gathering all the facts.
“The impact on local vendors and businesses as well as the issue on the legality of permits were some of the major concerns raised,” confirmed Burnham-King.
In the early-morning hours of Saturday (29 July) Bham made the decision to suspend the rides and trading, and invariably cancelled this year’s Winter Wonderland. The abrupt and premature shutting down was blamed by organisers on the inclement weather, but according to the City of Cape Town the event wasn’t even permitted to proceed in the first place. For weeks controversy surrounded the much-anticipated Winter Wonderland Festival, first due to “exorbitant fees for vendors”, which later snowballed into questions on where the money was going and who was benefiting the most. (“Winter Wonderland fest ‘rains’ out,” DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, 2 August 2023).
“We are extremely disappointed the event did not proceed as planned, and for the impact the cancellation has had on vendors and businesses,” said Burnham-King.
A vendor who preferred to remain anonymous confirmed she received refunds for not being able to trade on Saturday (29 July) and on Sunday (30 July).
Anke Sergel from Chip n Dip Gordon’s Bay went on record that she had received her refund 10 minutes after receiving a phone call from Bham on Thursday (10 August).
Bham was also contacted by District Mail & Helderberg Gazette to give him a chance to comment on the refunding and to find out if the Ed Bham Foundation would be involved in next year’s Winter Wonderland Festival. He declined to give any comment.
Burnham-King confirmed the Winter Wonderland contract will be shortened. “Discussions regarding an in-house organiser or contracted organiser will involve the community,” said Burnham-King. “Currently we are pushing hard to wrap all the issues up around Winter Wonderland 2023, and we will make all our findings and conclusions available as soon as we have clarity.”
Juanita Wilson of Gordon’s Bay Tourism hoped Winter Wonderland can continue year on year. “I hope it continues so the event can grow and bring prosperity to our community,” she said.
Edwina Hadfield of the Gordon Bay’s Residents’ Association was less confident. “Should we have another Winter Wonderland? I think it is going to be hard to come back from this one, should nothing be put on the table to show transparency.”
There was no confirmation from GBBF of when the next meeting would take place, but the community would be notified well in advance.
