There is an excitement amongst festival-goers at Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape this weekend, as the City’s flagship annual Splash Festival returned this Easter. The festival took a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s edition marks the 30th anniversary of the festival.
The festival includes stage performances by artists, water sports, food stalls and entertainment. To adhere to COVID-19 regulations, the organisers have suspended the highlight of the festival, the fireworks display.
Mayoral Committee Member for Arts and Culture, Bassie Kamana says they have also introduced new activities in the programme.
“As this Splash Festival is meant for families to gather together, we have also organised for the kids to be involved on the Easter egg land, where there would be an egg hunt and egg relay so that we make it warm for the people in this cold weather,” says Kamana.
Nelson Mandela Bay hosting Splash Festival:
The gloomy weather on day one of the event did not deter the excited local residents from coming out in numbers to enjoy what the festival has to offer.
Some had this to say about the festival:
“It’s actually a good thing that the local artists get to advertise and market themselves and people can see what the Nelson Mandela Bay has in store for them.”
“We are happy that the lockdown restrictions have been lifted especially for a little town like Port Elizabeth [Gqeberha] as people call it to have the Splash Festival back.”
“It’s a great feeling because we have been cooped up in our houses for two years now. So it’s a good feeling to be out and have fun.”
Nelson Mandela Bay hosts its Splash Festival after it was out on hold by COVID-19:
