Sizzling summer season for Bay

TOPPING a year of fun under the South African sun, the summer season in Nelson Mandela Bay has been heralded as a huge success by organisers and government officials with well attended beach activities and a programme of top national artists such as Jamali, Danny K and Pro Kid.

“This summer season has been a roaring success on all fronts,” said Greg Moses of Go Big Events, official organisers of the NMB Summer Season. “But, over and above the success of our sports and entertainment programme, we must emphasize the achievements of the Lost Kids campaign which oversaw the safety of seven thousand children on Nelson Mandela Bay beaches over the height of the holiday season.”

Of the 7610 children whose details were taken and recorded on armbands, 91 were lost – and all reunited with their parents, added Moses.

The rainy and windy weather on New Years weekend did not keep Nelson Mandela Bay visitors and residents off its biggest beaches – as shown by the number of children “tagged” on January 1 and January 2. Over 4760 children under the age of 12 were tagged. The children were fitted with a bracelet with their names and contact details of their parents or guardians.

“Over the New Year’s weekend, the Lost Kids crew located and successfully reunited 64 lost children,” says Moses.

At Hobie Beach, the Lost Kids Campaign tagged 200 children on the 31st, 400 on New Year’s Day and 110 on Sunday the Second. At King’s Beach, 200 children were tagged on Friday and 800 each on Saturday and Sunday.

The largest turnout occurred at Well’s Estate where 400 children were tagged on New Year’s Eve, 500 on New Year’s Day, and a whopping 1500 children on the warmer Sunday. Most lost children incidents occurred at King’s Beach, with 43 over the weekend, with only 11 at Well’s Estate and 10 at Hobie Beach. A record number of 2410 children were “tagged” on January 2.

With no serious incidences at the main beaches, a major concern for the organisers was a massive beach clean-up after the weekend’s revelry. “The Vodacom Beach Clean-up campaign was launched and ran to the end of the week following New Year to ensure our beaches return to their pristine natural state,” said Moses.

On Old Years Eve, Go Big Events also hosted two massive New Years parties at Hobie Beach and Well’s Estate. “Despite threatening rain clouds the Hobie Beach party went off extremely well, with both Danny K and Tururu rocking the crowds with their amazing performances,” said Moses.

He confirmed that between 30 000 and 40 000 people attended the Hobie Beach event. The only event which suffered briefly was the Opening of Season on 16 December, which was rescheduled to the next day after the city was drenched with heavy rain.

“It was unfortunate that the crowds missed out on the popular Rockets and Liquideep performances, yet all other performances, including Jamali, were retained for 17 December along with another fantastic fireworks display,” said Moses.

Other summer season hits included the Carols Carnival at Happy Valley and a series of sporting and beach activities like the hugely popular Sunset Night Surfing at the Pipe, Pollok Beach, Beach Soccer at King’s Beach and South African Beach Volleyball at King’s Beach.

“Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) thanks Go Big Events for hosting six weeks of entertainment, sports and activities for Bay locals and visitors to the city,” said Mandlakazi Skefile, chief executive of NMBT. “They definitely pulled out all the stops to make the summer season of 2010 special and certainly gave our residents and tourists to the city a sizzling summer to write home about – the perfect way to end off a fabulous year for Nelson Mandela Bay and South Africa.”