The Knysna Timber festival kicks off

The Annual Knysna Timber Festival kicked off on the 11th November 2016, Under the theme ‘Wood is in our nature’.

The Festival – presented with the assistance of G&K Quality Timber Mouldings, Tradelink Wood Products, Knysna & Partners, and the Knysna Municipality and sponsored by Woodoc Food for Wood and Saplings Timber Trading, highlighted both the heritage of timber in the Garden Route, and the resources and talent still present in the region.

“With the closure of so many furniture factories and sawmills, we’ve lost thousands of jobs in the timber economy in the Southern Cape over the last twenty years or so, and we can’t afford to lose any more,” said Jock McConnachie, of the Knysna Timber Initiative.

“This is why we launched the Festival: as a varied and vibrant showcase of furniture and woodcraft – and all things good in wood – and with both a high-level workshop, and popular attractions like talks and product demonstrations on the programme.”

The workshop sought to find solutions to the challenges facing the timber economy in the Southern Cape, and included delegates from government, the Knysna Timber Buyers Association, the Knysna Timber Initiative, the George Millers Forum, the Southern Cape Landowners Initiative, and SANParks, and with Knysna & Partners as the local destination management and marketing organisation.

The Timber Economy Workshop was held at Knysna Hollow and the bulk of the action took place at the festival grounds at Timber Village in Welbedacht Lane.

The weekend included ongoing demonstrations of outdoor power products by Turf & Trees, and of various clamping and joining tools and techniques by Tool & Trade in association with Vermont Sales.

The main highlight of the Festival was the final assembly of the wooden Outeniqua FatStix mountain bike, which was assembled by hackers at the Kluyts MakerSpace out of laminated assegai, hard pear and stinkwood.

The bike was built to showcase local talent and craftsmanship, and to demonstrate the possibilities for high-tech applications for timber in the future.