Thank you Prince Albert!

The Olive Festival 2008 is now past and I would like to thank all who made it the cheerful, happy, fun event that it was. The guest houses, B&B’s, self-catering establishments, restaurants, and many houses were full of visitors. These visitors will, as in the past, take back anecdotes and stories of their stay and it is our hope that this will contribute to the steadily growing stream of people visiting our town.

The Festival has been established for 17 years now and is organised by The Prince Albert Tourism Association with willing assistance from a very large number of people who are not themselves necessarily members.

We should always be aware that not everyone in Prince Albert benefits from the influx of visitors and that some inhabitants are more inconvenienced than others. I thank these people for nevertheless showing warm hospitality, as well as the many in Prince Albert who enjoyed themselves too.

Very special thanks to:

The Police, who made the town safe in a sensitive manner – residents will be pleased to hear that there were no untoward incidents,

The Municipality, who made a financial contribution, organised the Kaapse Klopse visit, provided electricity points, extra rubbish bins, transported gates for road closures, collected rubbish, and assisted whenever crises developed,

All those who made financial and in-kind contributions to the Festival kitty,

The stall holders, many of whom told me that they had experienced better returns than last year,

The farmers who lent us gates to close off the roads,

The parking attendants, who handled their difficult job of keeping cars out of Kerkstraat, with patience and tact,

Hoërskool Zwartberg, the Headmaster, teachers, parents, and scholars,

The Prince Albert Friend: thanks for meeting all deadlines, thanks for the informative and complementary content and thanks for a great programme,

Our website manager (over 20 000 hits in April, compared with just over 7000 in March),

The street cleaners, as well as many willing, young “spontaneous” cleaners,

Our visiting and local actors, artists, and musicians (unfortunately, Prince Alberters are so busy working they seldom have an opportunity to see the shows - pity!!),

The Steel Band, who ran a workshop and played in the streets,

The trainer of dancers, the dancers, and those who worked with fire,

Homeowners who again opened their houses and gardens for the public to see how Prince Alberters live,

All those who marketed the Fees (did you see the Weather Channel, have you read the latest Country Life?)

Our signwriter, maker of unique signs, and banner preparer,

The most photographed cyclists and bike-sculptors,

The organisers of the Fun Run,

The Museum and staff, including the town witblitz-stoker,

Our bilingual announcers,

The funfair, rides, and entertainment organisers,

The toilet cleaners and attendants, who again kept an essential part of the Festival hospitable,

The inhabitants of Mark and Kerk streets who kept their cool while being inconvenienced,

The owner of Seven Arches for again allowing us to use his balcony for announcements,

All those who played a part and whom I may have inadvertently not thanked,

Those who made their wonderful theatre spaces available for the use of productions, as well as those who found time to take tickets and money,

Those who included advertising for the ‘Fees’ on their own advertising material and delivered it to far places,

I would like to personally thank the Tourism Office staff, who were at the centre of ticket sales, complaints, compliments, stall allocations, printing, ticket production, minute taking, organising, last minute poster production, and a hundred other jobs: you two were truly great!

Lastly, a tremendous thank you to the Committee: you gave it your all, amidst organising programmes, school stalls, own stalls, shops and businesses, school finan-cing, children, families, and still managed to keep smiling in the streets. You set a great example of social commitment!

Bokkie Botha,
Chairman, Olive Festival Committee

The Committee: Imke Maeyer, Di Steyn, Elize Senekal, Lorna Verrans, Kallie Erasmus, Sally Arnold, Linda Fodor, Jeremy Freemantle, Bodo Toelstede, Riaan Coetzee, Lisa Smith, Zelia Mullins, Chantelle Freysen, Pam Wessels