Impact of Virtual Oyster Fest lives on

KNYSNA NEWS - Even though the first Virtual Knysna Oyster Festival has officially drawn to a close, its legacy and effect will continue long into the future as organisers draw invaluable lessons from the event.

The original schedule for the pre-Covid Knysna Oyster Festival included numerous events that would've attracted tens of thousands of people to the beautiful coastal town, as it does every year.

Covid-19 had other ideas, though, and in mid-April the festival was officially cancelled for the first time since its inception in 1983.

However, organisers refused to go down easy and by end-May they formally announced plans to take the festival online. Thus began the struggle to find ways to host events online and draw up a programme. Thus, in the 38th year of the event, the inaugural Virtual Knysna Oyster Festival was born as a means to continue marketing Knysna as a tourist destination and keep it on the map.

According to festival coordinator Andrew Finn they achieved this goal and much, much more. "It's been amazing, and such a great learning curve for us all," he said. "We've been able to market Knysna and expose it to a much wider audience around the world. This has taught us all so many lessons that we will remember going forward." Their amended programme was far shorter than the original, but still included lots to do for those looking to take part, such as yoga and Pilates, quiz nights, live music, live streaming of sports events, and much more.

"This year has really taught us the immense power of using social media to brand and market our festival, not only leading up to it but during it too," Finn said. "There are countless people around the globe who can't necessarily afford to come out to Knysna year-on-year, so this has given us a chance to finally take the event to them."

According to Visit Knysna, an estimated 450 000 people from different parts of the world, including America, Netherlands, Croatia, Australia, Hong Kong and the UK, experienced this year's festival from the comfort of their own homes via various social media platforms. Finn said they would "absolutely" be looking to bring the virtual and physical worlds of the festival together in future. Merging the two aspects will grow the event further in years to come.

Suzi Leigh also pulled out her guitar in support of Famsa Knysna. Photo: Facebook