The 2015 edition of the PicknPay Knysna Oyster Festival has had a massive economic impact on the local economy.
That's according to figures released by the festival organisors, based on in-depth data gathered by the Knysna Municipality during the 10-day event.
Festival manager, Nicci Rousseau-Schmidt, says over that period 73 thousand 500 people attended the festival, collectively spending R118.7m.
She says a further R6m was spent locally before and during the festival to stage various events, taking total spend to over R124.7m.
“The festival started a drive in 2011 urging events to support local, and the spend with businesses and individuals within the Knysna Municipal area continues to grow annually,” she said. “New sales generated in the area as a result of this spend are estimated at over R300-million,”
PicknPay General Manager, Marketing, Malcolm Mycroft, said it is truly heartening to see this incredible growth and that the festival is fast becoming one of the largest of its kind in the country.
“Ultimately what this means is that we’re able to give more back to the surrounding communities, and this is what lies at the heart of everything Pick n Pay does. It goes without saying this couldn’t have been achieved without our partners and the overwhelming support received from the visitors to the festival this year. We have no doubt that going forward we will see the festival growing even further.”
Knysna Municipal Manager Grant Easton said that the economic impact figures of R124 million direct spend over 10 days prove that the festival is a major contributor to Knysna’s economy. “This figure, together with the R300 million in new sales which was generated for the Knysna economy, is an amount equal to 70% of our annual Municipal budget. I want to congratulate everyone involved, including the sponsors, for making the 2015 festival yet another successful one for Knysna."
Greg Vogt, CEO of Knysna Tourism said that the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival is greater Knysna’s biggest festival, easily generating the equivalent of what all other festivals and events held in the area generate in a year.
“With each year’s success comes the challenge of growing and improving the festival in the right way. Post mortems and think tanks for the 2016 event are well underway, and we are very grateful to our event sponsors, Pick n Pay and their sponsorship partners Momentum, for what they have brought to the event. It is also important to highlight the robust role the Knysna Municipality has played in the staging of another successful event.”
Next year's Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival will take place between 1 – 10 July.
