Boland Summer Festival this weekend
2005-03-09
THE Paarl Rock has had a glimmer in its “eye” for the last few weeks, and there’s a reason for that - the Boland Summer Festival which will be presented this weekend at the Dal Josaphat Stadium.
About 25 000 people are expected over the three days (11, 12 and 13 March) with fun for all.
For the sixth year running, the Festival, one of the biggest events the Boland has ever seen, will be presented “for the people, by the people”.
Says chairman Yazeed Moerat: “The Boland Summer Festival is an event that brings people together.
“It is a place where people from all cultures, religions, races and backgrounds can enjoy themselves and have good, clean, fun!
“I’m talking about the kind of fun like we had in Die Ou Tuin. It is a place where you can re-live your youth, watch sports, enjoy a tasty meal and sit back under the African skies listening to local musicians performing live on stage.
“It is indeed the year of the Youth and we would like to urge parents to use this week-end as family time - to show your kids that there is more to life than sex, drugs and alcohol.
“Our aim for this event is to attract people from across the country and use it as a marketing tool that will re-energise the tourism industry in Paarl.
“We would like to thank all our sponsors, stallholders, festival-goers, the local municipality, sports organisations and everyone that makes a contribution to the festival - we hope to see you all there.”
The Dal Josaphat Stadium has been the venue of the Boland Summer Festival since its inception and is ideal for an event of this nature.
Last year the festival attracted between 20 000 and 25 000 people over the three days to this central venue.
“As with all events of this magnitude, some things are bound to go wrong. We would like to thank you for both complaints and queries, however insignificant they may seem. Without it, we would not be able to improve year on year.”
This year’s festival will see a few improvements compared to last, including cleaner toilet areas, more water points, an ATM available on site, breastfeeding and nappy changing cubicle, better locations for the exhibitors and easy access to stalls, and a full-time emergency officer over and above the normal medical personnel.
The opening has moved from 16:00 to 20:00 to accommodate everyone, and for the first time there will be fireworks on the Friday and Saturday evenings.
There will also be a live circus presented by the South African national Circus School (see programme for details).
What to expect at the festival? Besides the 120 stalls and exhibitors there will be a wide variety of food stalls.
These include braai, curries from across the seas, hot mealies, flame-grilled chicken and tikka, snoek braai, Egyptian pitas, grilled penny polonies, fish and calamari, chips and hotdogs, boerewors, samoosas, koeksisters, spring rolls, pies, scones and muffins, delicious cakes, ice-cream, sweets and beverages.
Fun for the kids includes quad bikes, a jumping castle, a gladiator slide, a cool fun fair with lots of great rides, pony rides, face painting, a kids’ modelling show and charades.
For the youth there will be an exciting car show, pool and card competitions, table tennis, darts, computer games, target shooting and live entertainment.
The adults have not been left out of the fun.
There will be a tea garden to relax in and various sporting activities such as golf (“nearest to the pin”), rugby (Vineyards vs Rangers), interesting guest speakers including deputy mayor Anthea Sheldon and Arthob Petersen (manager of the Springbok rugby team), game shows and fun interactive programs.
Don’t miss the 100 stalls and exhibitions of all kinds.
There are also the circus items, top musical entertainment for all ages, impressive fireworks shows and the martial arts sword show.
Will it be safe? A local security company and neighbourhood watch will be there, a medical doctor and emergency caravan, as well as an emergency officer and a professional engineer.
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