Knysna Oyster Festival dates 2021 announced

PRESS RELEASE: 2021 Knysna Oyster Festival dates announced for hybrid event

Visit Knysna, the destination marketing organisation for the greater Knysna area has today (August 18, 2020) announced Friday the 2nd to Sunday the 11th of July 2021 as the provisional dates for the 2021 Knysna Oyster Festival (KOF).

The KOF will once again offer a programme of unique events for sport lovers, families and adventurers with an abundance of activities spread over ten days. Due to the overwhelming success of the 2020 Virtual KOF and the global uncertainty related to COVID-19, the event organisers will add an extra element of fun to next year’s event, by hosting a hybrid event.

The hybrid version of the KOF was launched at this year’s event, and saw participants from all over the country but also internationally participate in virtual cycle races and forest runs. It was hugely supported online during the events as well as on social media.

The hybrid event combines a “live” in-person event with a virtual online component, giving festival goers the opportunity to explore the greater Knysna area and all that it has to offer in person, or remotely from the comfort of their homes.

Visit Knysna’s General Manager, Colleen Durant commented: “The Knysna Oyster Festival is an important part of brand Knysna and its culture. Not only does it attract specifically domestic tourists to town, it also stimulates the local economy during the otherwise quieter winter months.

With the refreshed event offering of the Virtual KOF, we hope we have inspired our ‘regular festival attendees’ and look forward to welcoming them back along with many novices, whilst ensuring that we continue presenting an expanded programme offering by our locals as well as promoting our destination.”
 
In addition, the support and interest around the 2020 VKOF has given the event coordinators the confidence that they could secure sponsorship(s) for the 2021 festival, which promises to create new opportunities for brand awareness and lead generation.

 “It has been hard, incredibly hard. We’ve been scared, nervous, and unsure and some have lost their loved ones and income during this difficult time. So much can be said about the resilience of the people in our town, which is why we had a successful Virtual Knysna Oyster Festival in the face of this pandemic.

I’m excited to see what a hybrid (combination of virtual and old school) Knysna Oyster Festival has in store for us. The innovation behind virtual festivals has redefined how we view festivities and has afforded us an opportunity to think outside the box; and extend an invitation to people from outside our town to zoom into Knysna and experience one of our prestigious festivals.

This year’s success has set the tone on how festivals should be like in the future – and that, in fact, we are leaders on how they should be like”, said Executive Mayor of Knysna, Cllr Elrick van Aswegen.

Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris concluded: “In today’s rapidly changing environment, preparedness and crisis management have become integral aspects of event planning, which is why I’m excited about the prospects of hosting a hybrid event. This will mean double the exposure the KOF had before, which will not only offer everyone flexibility and convenience, but also provide potential sponsors with more value.” 

Click on the link for the up-to-date online calendar of events in the Garden Route and Klein Karoo.