Scrapping Splash is not an option

Adismal attempt at the Splash Festival earlier this year has raised questions about whether it is economically viable for Nelson Mandela Bay to continue hosting the iconic event every Easter. The topic was raised by the city’s acting economic development boss, Anele Qaba, at a sports and recreation committee meeting yesterday.

This year’s poorly organised event was the latest in a series of bungles which have resulted in the deterioration of the quality of one of the metro’s tourist attractions.

Not only did stall holders not make money, they lost hundreds of thousands of rands, thanks to the wet weather which washed out the entire weekend.

Of course, the bigger issue was that the organisers were contracted just two days before the event, giving them virtually no time to pull it off effectively.

While it is clear that the festival is not what it was envisaged, scrapping it should not be an option for the metro at all.

For a coastal city well positioned between the Eastern and Western Cape, tourism should be big business. We should make the most of every opportunity to pull people to our city.

After the demise of tourist attractions like Bayworld and the Apple Express, the city cannot afford to scrap another event with the potential to lure thousands of visitors to our shores.

As ANC councillor Marion Harning said, it is also a “platform for all residents to come together, meet friends and browse the stalls while listening to music”.

The metro currently has no sustainable and lucrative attraction to bring tourists to the city.

Therefore it is encouraging to see that decision makers agree that this festival must be revived.

Councillors have now asked Qaba to carry out a comprehensive study to weigh up its viability and work out how it could be maximised.

We need a sustainable plan to lure investors to support and grow the potential of Splash as one of the country’s calendar festivals.

We also support the metro’s efforts to advertise for organisers of next year’s Splash Festival as early as next month to avoid a lastminute rush to put it together.

We cannot afford to let another Bay icon bite the dust.