Plett rage back to original format
The annual school leaver festival, Plett Rage, is set to take on a more traditional format this year, after several proposed changes to mitigate Covid-19 regulations.
This comes after the event was cancelled for the Class of 2020 due to pandemic regulations and concerns over the safety of festivalgoers.
Earlier this year, organisers announced that the event would take place over two long weekends instead of the traditional full week as in the past.
Owner Ronen Klugman said that, after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on 30 September to move South Africa from alert level 2 to adjusted alert level 1, the numbers of people allowed to gather both indoors and outdoors changed. The maximum number of people permitted to gather indoors has increased from 250 to 750, and outdoors has increased from 500 to 2 000.
“If we’ve learned one thing since the start of this pandemic it is to be adaptable, to innovate and that things sometimes don’t go as planned and then tough decisions have to be made,” he said.
The Plett Rage team then took the decision to the “ragers” themselves. “We asked what type of Plett Rage 2021 experience participants wanted, and an overarching 81,4% of festinos would like a combined five-day, multi-stage and more dynamic artist line-up.”
It was therefore decided to ditch the two-weekend format and plan Plett Rage for 3 to 7 December. This move however has a financial impact on the ragers.
“All current weekend 1 and 2 passport holders will be automatically converted to VIP passport holders with added benefits of private bars, viewing decks, toilets, and more,” Klugman said.
“We understand that making this decision will impact booking arrangements, costing etc. However, we are currently working alongside Plett Tourism and Plett Accommodation to urge accommodation providers to accommodate visitors by changing your booking dates or refunding you if needed.”
Additionally, all passport holders will have the option to downgrade their passport and have the difference pre-loaded to their cashless wristbands. All weekend 2 passport holders will be able to have their passports fully refunded until 31 October.
Klugman said that they would also be releasing a new general passport, which will allow more matriculants from all over the country to join in the celebration.
“Although we will be increasing our numbers slightly, we will not push it to the limits of the current restrictions, and we will not release day tickets,” he said.
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