The Humansdorp Family Festival, in partnership with the Kouga Municipality, will host the town’s first festival on March 31 and April 1 at Twisters in Park Road, Humansdorp, to give back to the community which has been plagued by drugs and gangsterism.
According to Rochey Walters, festival director, the festival which will be the first of its kind in the Humansdorp area, will be a family fun event for the community and surrounding areas.
He said that the objective of the event was not only for the community to have a good day out with their family, but also to uplift the community, giving them something to look forward to and to bring families together.
“With all the negativity and socio-economic challenges we are facing, we would like to add value to our beautiful town and attract positivity and good vibes and bring hope to our community,” said Walters.
“The focus of the festival is to give back to the community and to uplift the moral compass of the youth.”
Walters said that since the town does not host many events, they are hoping that the festival will be the start of many events and will be used as an opportunity to promote arts and cultural events in the area.
Walters, who has been in the event and entertainment industry for over 10 years, said the event will be filled with great live performances by the Temple Boys and Stephanie B from the television series Getroud met rugby, while comedian Ouma Sarie and actor Aviwe Ngabom from the hit show Arendsvlei will be the masters of ceremonies.
He further said that at least five national performances, and over 15 local artists, will showcase their talent on stage at the two-day event.
Local artists include Chelton Windvogel known as Ghetto Prophet, Jazzy Leander known as Jazzythug, Mr Makes, Liena G and The Switch Dance Crew, to name a few.
“There is so much talent in the Kouga region but there are no platforms for them. We are therefore planning to provide artists and performers with a platform at the festival,” said Walters.
In addition to the live performances, he said that there will be carnival rides for children, five-a-side soccer, a modelling and fashion show and great food options with various stalls on site.
“The community will have one of the first major music festivals which will increase community access to participation, tourism, job creation through the event staffing and through our stalls to mention a few,” said Walters.
He said that the festival will be held annually with more sporting events, drama and comedy shows at next year’s festival, which he believes will work greatly to unify the community.
As part of their five-year plan, Walters said that their vision is to host the festival as a miniature version of the Grahamstown Festival and Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees.
Despite the great effort put into arranging the festival he said that he could not have done so without the help and dedication of his amazing team, who are all locals from the community.
Walters’ team includes Kouga Municipality’s special programme’s co-ordinator and acting chief of staff, Elvina Felix, sponsorships from Chill Beverages, Score Energy Drink, Fitch & Leedes, Heineken, Die Khoi Gin, Halewood (Belgravia), Fun 4 U Amusement Park and venue partnership at Twisters.
In addition, he has received marketing assistance from Jonathan Phyllis from the popular Facebook page, “Humansdorp my plek”.
Gates will open at 16:00 on March 31 and 09:00 on April 1.
The price per ticket is R80 for adults and R40 for children per day which can be purchased on Quicket.
People are allowed to bring along their camping chairs and picnic blankets; however, no alcohol or food will be allowed into the venue as there will be a beer tent, gin garden and various food stalls.
“The event will be safe for festival goers as we have partnered with SAPS, EMS, Private Care and a private security company, to ensure the safety of all those who attend the festival,” said Walters.
“No drugs, guns or weapons will be allowed, and zero tolerance will apply. There will also be shuttle services at the event.”
For more information contact Manda Manuel on 078 571 3213 and for stall bookings contact Liz-Ann Ambraal on 078 089 8191.
