LIGHT UMNGENI FESTIVAL POSTPONED
This year’s anticipated third annual Light Up umngeni Festival Fair has been postponed due to electricity supply challenges.
This festival was supposed to take place at the Howick Falls this Friday.
Chairperson of Umngeni Tourism, Victoria O’sullivan, said in order to facilitate the festival, the electricity infrastructure at the Howick Falls precinct needed to be upgraded, to the tune of R350 000, which they did not have.
O’sullivan said the Light up umngeni Festive Fair has become a cherished annual tradition within the community of Howick and they understand the disappointment of the postponement. She added the decision was not made lightly.
“We share in the collective sadness surrounding the postponement. However, we remain committed to bringing the magic of Light up umngeni to our community. We are currently in discussions with the organising committee to strategise a new date for 2024, where we will extend a warm invitation to our registered vendors to join us for a spectacular event,” said O’sullivan.
She added although the main
Light up umngeni event has been postponed, umngeni Tourism will still support other festive season events in the umngeni area through their Festive Season Campaign.
“To bolster the local hospitality industry during this festive season, we invite businesses to ‘tag’ @umngenitourism in your social media posts. By doing so, we can share your offerings with the wider tourism industry, fostering collaboration and promoting our vibrant local businesses. The spirit of Light up umngeni lives on, and we look forward to bringing you a truly enchanting experience in 2024,” said O’sullivan.
Light Up umngeni Festival was first hosted in 2021 at the Howick Falls bringing over 4 000 people to the Howick Falls precinct. The organisers last year moved the festival to the Nelson Mandela Capture Site due to the derelict state of the precinct, which was a concern to the tourism industry.
The mayor of umngeni Municipality Chris Pappas said he was saddened about the postponement as the festival had become something that is greatly anticipated on the annual calendar.
“Moving the event back to the falls would require the municipality to invest more than R320 000 in electricity infrastructure, which we cannot justify for a once-off event, when considered against the many issued that we need to deal with. The municipality will work with umngeni Tourism and others to make up for this lost event that has become loved by many,” said Pappas.
Many people, especially the business owners at the Howick
Falls and vendors, were looking forward to the festival being brought back to the Howick Falls.
Disappointed at the news of this year’s festival being postponed, they said they had hoped the festival will boost their businesses.
One of the vendors, who asked not to be named, said even though there wasn’t enough information shared about the festival compared to the previous years, they had hoped it will be a success.
“We have been looking forward to this festival for the past year because it really made a difference in our craft business. It attracted a lot of people to see our work and buy our crafts. We are, however, hopeful that more people will be visiting the Howick Falls this festive season,” he said.