Eateries & Restaurants - update on participation opportunity in Knysna Oyster Festival 2021
Dear all in our sector of the tourism industry
It is going to happen. In Real Life !!! Knysna Oyster Festival 2021 is off to a running start!
STAY – WORK – PLAY
Event dates: 9th to 18th JULY 2021
What a community can do when they come together is always great food for the soul. The line-up for this year’s Knysna Oyster Festival is well in hand with Andrew Finn and the coordinating team.
Overview of What IS Happening
This year’s Knysna Oyster Festival will be different to what we have experienced in the past: there will not be large tents on sport fields with stalls and events run from a central venue! However, IT WILL HAPPEN. And IT WILL HAPPEN FOR REAL. LIVE. Activities WILL take place, differently….
The Knysna Forest marathon will be run over the first weekend, probably over a few days; the same applies to the Knysna Cycle Tour. Both events will also run virtual activations leading up to and during the week of the Knysna Oyster Festival.
As these events are not going to be as concentrated over individual days, it is up to as, as a town, who need to encourage the visitors to STAY, WORK and PLAY for the whole week – a full 10 days in the greater Knysna area….
How do we do this ?
In order to entice visitors here and encourage them to stay for (at least) the full 10 days, it’s up to each individual restaurant, business, activity or event to have a “Festival Special” running during the course of the week.
Specifically, in the food sector: we need to have offerings that will include, but not be limited to:
Oysters,
Daily specials,
food/picnic baskets to order,
music and/or comedy shows at your venues…
Deli and takeaway specials
The visitor needs to be able to choose when and where they can go for food and entertainment.
How do the Visitors know which Businesses are participating?
Each accepted/approved participating business, event and activity will:
Receive a festival poster to display on/at their premise/venue
Activations will be colour-coded per sector: your businesses will be allocated colour(s) that can be used to brand the venue – this will show what activity sector you represent
Be encouraged to use the official Knysna Oyster Festival brand logo on their promotional material, website and Social Media channels for the duration of the festival period
Promote your Festival Special(s) on your social media channels and share to/tag the KOF Social Media. Details will be shared closer to the time.
How to get on board
If you already have a calendar of events and special’s during this time (9 – 18 July) please register your information on the website, indicating your offering/s: http://knysnaoysterfestival.co.za/kofapp2021/
For more information and details, please contact me (Elizabeth Vertue) as the Restaurant and Entertainment Head as appointed to the KOF Steering Committee at +27 (0)44 302 5812 or email: training@emporiumknysna.co.za
For your information only: general updates to locals - festival planning thus far:
Accommodation
Elmay Bouwer is heading the Accommodation Pillar of the Knysna Oyster Festival and has already got more than 30 Guest Houses on board for a South African tourist/athlete-based Oyster Festival. Their agreed pricing from R750 – R1 500 per family of four per night certainly makes our value adds, as the food sector, more meaningful in the affordability bracket!!!
Sport and Events
The major sporting events will be held over several days, making our wish for a more ‘extended’ festival over the 10 days a reality. Other small group events will also take place during the course of the 10 days:
Festival Line up thus far, includes:
To give you an idea of what is already brewing (actual events) in the line-up for the Festival:
The Timber Festival has been incorporated into the KOF
Cycle and Run are both steaming ahead with planning and participant commitments
SANParks are doing family/kids focused events at various locations, these including the mudflats, rock pools and ‘Perdekop’ hiking trail.
A Buffalo Bay music day on one of the weekends
Better Live has a list of Big-name bands that will perform at Blend
Drag shows and Story tellers are also at various venues
Wine Festival is in the process of being put together by Knysna Education Trust (KET).
Restaurants and Entertainment….
For the restaurants: Dominic Morel and Baden Hall have been very busy getting artists on board to play at established venues during the Knysna Oyster Festival – also keeping costs and budgets in mind in their planning. I think they have come up with a wonderful offering to our restaurant establishments that makes Live Entertainment accessible.
The idea is that there are three tiers of Live entertainment available.
A - R1500 per gig for a 3 – 4 hours show
B – R250 per gig + ’Hat ‘for their own funding
C – Buskers that work on the ‘Hat’ basis but just need venues to set up in
Baden Hall is busy with the list of musos and I (Elizabeth) will send out the details next week. Please liaise with me should be you keen on the possibility of hosting some of these entertainers.
In closing:
The Knysna Oyster Festival organising committee is going to start advertising these events and activations a.s.a.p. The deadline for the calendar inclusion is Friday, 16th April 2021 where we need to indicate if you will be running a promo, hosting live music or have any other events or offerings that you would like to have included and marketed. The only thing required at this stage is an offering e.g., Value Add, Promotion or event hosting.
I look forward to hearing from all of you, and the KOF team looks forward to bringing tourists to our town in the “middle of winter”!
