Countdown: Plett prepares for Raging good time in one week
Visitors for life
With only a week to go until the 2018 Plett Rage student festival, excitement around the event is mounting. Thousands of school leavers are expected to descend on Plettenberg Bay from 30 November to 7 December for what has become the biggest festival of its kind in the southern hemisphere. The festival not only provides a boost of close to R50million to the local economy each year but according to local businesses is an event to expose the town to future tourists.
Riaan and Ruan Smit from the Yellow Wood Spur said they, as a family, “fell in love” with Plett in 1995 during their first visit to the town.
“Since then we came back every year and even bought a holiday flat meaning increasing our visits to three times a year.
We were tourists way back then but for the last five years we have made Plett our home and that is why our establishment, Yellow Wood Spur, is involved (in the festival)… We need more tourists every year, so what better start than being involved with Rage to introduce the youth to Plett, so that they will come back to Plett for many years to come,” the Smits said.
The Yellow Wood Spur, along with several other local businesses, is part of the Friends of the Festival initiative.
The initiative was established several years ago to maximise opportunities for local businesses during the festival.
Another Friend of the Festival is Charles Roberts of Steers and Debonairs. “As a business owner and a member of the local community for a good few years, I have watched Plett Rage grow from a small festival where fliers were being handed out on the beach to encourage visitors to attend the parties, to the massive and well-organised event it has become. It is with pride that our town hosts this event every year.
“Ragers perhaps don’t realise the massive support given by the Plett community. Many people give unselfishly of their time and resources to help ensure that the event is safe and successful, ultimately resulting in a good experience for the visitors to our town. It is our hope that the young visitors will go on to become lifelong visitors to Plett, as many generations before them have become,” Roberts said.
Sue van der Gaast of the Plett Ski Boat Club agreed that the youth was the future of Plett.
“The Ragers always seem to have an awesome experience in Plett. The hope is that they will want to spend many future holidays here and will eventually become homeowners and/or business owners in our town,” Van der Gaast said.
“Plett Rage brings a huge economic injection but much more than, in my opinion, it is the best-run event in Plett.”
To become a Friend of the Festival, contact Daron Smit, Andy Smit or Louise Whitehead at The Worx on 044 533 0816 or send an email to them on daron@theworx.co.za, andy@the-worx. co.za or louise@the-worx. co.za