Karoo-lus 2018 attracts 8200 festivalgoers
After eight years of going from strength to strength, the final figures for the last ever Karoolus Festival have now been published. This year the attendance figures soared to 8 200 - over a thousand more than in 2017. The Windpomp run attracted almost 600 entrants, and the organisers of the festival are very grateful to the Graaff-reinet Running Club for their support in bringing extra people to the town during the Festival weekend. The annual Summit Wildlife Auction was attended by over a thousand people, and again, many of these were attracted to the town during the festival and stayed on to enjoy many of the events. The squash tournament, which was fully booked well before the event, also brought players and their families from far and wide. Nine local groups which ran different fun events over the weekend each benefitted to the tune of R15 000. The charities involved were CSI animal welfare group, who ran the well-supported Dog Show, ACCV Huis van de Graaff for the Recycle Fashion Show, Rapportryers for Kouples Karoo- lus, the Gereformeerde Kerk for the Vintage Cars Display and the organisers of the Koekedoortjies, Pink Trees for Pauline. Four schools were also involved in organising events, also receiving R15 000 each. Weppie Preppie hosted the Wilde Woeste Wedloop, Let’splay pre-school ran the Tug of War competition, Hoër Volkskool organised the Volleyball tournament, and Tinkerbell School arranged and ran the child-minding Kiddies’ Tent. The Narsingstraat Montego project also benefitted with a donation of R30 000, and the Chinelle's School of Dancing was given R10 000. Botanics Sports Grounds and Legends Sports Bar and Grill venue were given R20 000 for the use of their facilities, and the Volkskool Oudskolierebond was given the same amount for their bar duties. Union High School, who made their venue available at no charge for the last four years, was also given a donation of R10 000. The organisers are extremely grateful to all the sponsors for their generous support, which made a tremendous contribution to the successful running of the event.