Excitement grows before Oyster Festival
Anticipation for the very popular Knysna Oyster Festival is mounting and so are organisers preparing for what is dubbed the best 10 days in winter from July 1 until July 10.
However what most people do not realise is the huge amount of work behind the scenes.
“Months of preparations and planning go into making this festival a success each year without fail,” says Zandile Menesses, venue manager.
According to him the organisers have a huge team that has been hard at work to make the event a success for the whole family.
Menesses said: “We are using local businesses from the plumbing, tents, electronics to security this year. Allsound Security is very experienced with crowd control. The Pick n Pay kitchen will see desperate youth employed during the festival and we have two youngsters from Red Cross medics who will be working with us during the festival.”
Sister Delina Botha, a volunteer for Red Cross, said, “The Rotary Club has supported us for more than 30 years and there are many charities that are beneficiaries of the Knysna Oyster Festival and Red Cross is one of them. We are happy to lend a hand wherever there is a need in Knysna.”
Menesses said they also intend to raise recycling awareness and have separate bags instead of just single litter refuse points.
Knysna Oyster Festival 2016 from this venue manager’s perspective has positive changes because, “We are aiming to be consciously more community inclusive, the fun ride is back from 10:00 until 22:00 every day and there is also a gospel show on the last Sunday also brought to you by a local entertainment company.”
Mentioning the companies behind the scenes Menesses said, “Our event safety officer is long time local Steve van Lier, plumbing is done by Bruce Olden Plumbers, in charge of Events and Tents is Jason Burmeister from Plettenberg Bay, Interwaste belongs to Kirsty Hofhuis from Sedgefield, Mitchell’s Electrical has the electrical contract, Allsound Security manages security and the Red Cross will supply venue specific medics,” explained the venue manager.
” Knysna Tippers supplies wood chips for the venue, toilets are supplied by Top Loos who have a depot in Knysna and clearly this is also the Knysna High School’s largest fundraiser through the rental paid for the hire of their field.”
First timers in the festival, Events and Tents are responsible for putting up marquees. Burmeister said: “We have spent the last seven years building the business up to a point where we can cater for events of this magnitude and we are extremely proud to have been selected as the official marquee supplier of the Knysna Oyster Festival 2016.”
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News