Gallery
KNYSNA NEWS - From total destruction in the fires of 7 June, to “most successful festival ever” in just three months: the 2017 Knysna Timber Festival from 29 September to 1 October has been hailed as both a triumph and a cathartic, life-affirming experience.
“The Knysna Timber Initiative decided at its very first meeting after the fires that the festival would go ahead by hook or by crook – despite the fact that both the venue, Timber Village, and my home and office – with all the festival documents and records – were burned to the ground,” said festival manager Picca de Bruin.
“It was a massive effort, but the spirit of cooperation and the incredible support we received from everyone paid off on the day.
Click here for a photo gallery.
“Our visitor numbers were up – more than 2 000 people came on Saturday alone; a number of visitors, including bowl turners from Pretoria, flew in specifically for the event; the Food for Wood children’s programme was sold out.
"Chef Melven Mene of Usatsho Tshisanyama & Catering ran out of supplies on at least one occasion and had to go into town to get more to feed the amazing crowd of people who seemed to 'kuier and kuier' (socialise heartily); and the number of out-of-town exhibitors grew from about 5% last year to 25% this year,” she said.
Media coverage
De Bruin said that media coverage generated by the festival for Knysna as a timber destination exceeded all expectations.
“The SABC sent a reporter and cameraman who put together a two-minute, 11-second slot that was screened on prime-time TV news, and Derrich Gardner interviewed me on his RSG programme, Brêkfis met Derrich, on Saturday morning – and, together with exposure in Timber IQ and SA Forestry magazines, as well as in our local Knysna-Plett Herald and the many online publications that supported us, this year’s festival drew more media attention than any we’ve done in the past.
“In terms of the #KnysnaRises campaign, this was invaluable coverage, and we’re sure that we can directly attribute it to the goodwill that surrounded the festival from the day we decided it had to go ahead,” she said.
Life-affirming
Exhibitor Cheryl Liepner of Country Ways, a local business that restores furniture and makes new furniture from old wood, wasn’t ready to exhibit at first.
She and her husband Nick lost their house on the family farm near Karatara, outside Knysna, as well as their shop on Old Cape Road, and their son Zak lost his home next door to Timber Village in the fires.
“I couldn’t face it,” she said. “My biggest fear was that everyone would be talking about the fires, and we’re still trying to come to terms with losing everything – including all the stock from our 28-year-old business.
“But Daniel Hennessy, one of the owners of Timber Village, called and offered us a sponsored stall, and persuaded us to come, and I’m so pleased we did.
It was 10 times better than last year, even though we had very little on show. It was just fantastic.
Cathartic
“We saw a very different crowd of people this year, and we did have to speak about the fire, but everyone was genuinely interested in our work, and how we’re rebuilding, so it was good to talk about it after all.
“The Timber Festival was a wonderful experience that’s helped us all enormously,” she said.
For his part, Barry Foulkes of Ciranova wood-care products, which exhibited for the first time at the Timber Festival this year, was “hugely impressed" with the show.
“Whenever we exhibit in the big cities, everyone’s only interested in price, but here we found that the people were genuinely curious about what our products can do.
“There was a such a great community spirit, too, and it was a rare opportunity to meet the local trade,” he said. “We’ll definitely be back next year.”
And that, said Ms. de Bruin, was exactly why the Knysna Timber Initiative went to such extraordinary lengths to present the 2017 Knysna Timber Festival.
“The festival slogan is ‘Our heritage rooted in wood’ and its job is to remind us that we grow together when we work together,” she said.
ARTICLE: MARTIN HATCHUEL, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD CORRESPONDENT
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
