Ticket prices blamed after concert fails to make a splash

Tickets costing between R180 and R350 have been largely blamed for the dismal showing at a Wells Estate Splash Festival event which attracted only about 150 people, despite featuring top South African hip-hop artist Cassper Nyovest.

Despite the rest of the festival hitting the mark in Summerstrand, organisers and municipal officials described Sunday’s Wells Estate event – which cost R500 000, including Nyovest’s R150 000 fee – as a “learning curve” due to the poor attendance.

Nyovest is known for pulling crowds. He drew 20 000 to his #FillUpTheDome concert about three years ago, topping that in December when he performed before a 68 000-strong crowd at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

This was the first year the Splash was held at two different venues and it is unclear whether it will happen again.

Emayuyu Home Brewed Entertainment managing director Zolani Willie cited several possible reasons, including safety concerns and competition.

“There were just too many hiccups surrounding the event, otherwise it was well marketed.

“It could be that people feared for their safety when we mentioned Wells Estate because the area is not very safe and our timing wasn’t the best as it was quite a busy weekend with a lot going on.”

Willie said the poor turnout was not because of inadequate marketing.

“It was definitely not a case of people not knowing about the event – it was well marketed and the weather was perfect.”

Soul Good project manager Darren Mungur said while the Wells Estate event was poorly supported, they would discuss a way forward.

“The turnout was dismal and not what we expected [but] in our debrief session we will try to ascertain what went wrong.

“If the event is to go forward, what should be changed? “Even though the event was part of the Splash Festival, it did not form part of its budget as there was a large number of investments, hence the implementation of ticket sales.”

Municipal sports, recreation, arts and culture executive director Noxolo Nqwazi said it was a lesson learnt.

“It was the first time that we’ve added a concert at Wells Estate,” she said.

“Councillors have said several times that we must bring the Splash festival to Wells Estate and Brighton beaches.

“We decided to test it by bringing Cassper, who is an international artist in terms of the ratings.

“We knew that it would either do well or not do well because you’re dividing people’s attention between the Christian events and a music concert.”

Nqwazi said the city did not have to spend any extra money over and above the R2.5-million it had set aside for the entire Splash festival.

“We will need to evaluate whether it is worth continuing with this event and a report with recommendations will go to the portfolio committee,” she said, adding that ticket prices may have been an issue.

But the municipality could not afford to stage the event on its own without selling tickets. Nqwazi said the traditional Splash at Hobie and Pollok beaches had been a resounding success.

Ward 60 councillor Mvuzo Mbelekane, who attended the Wells Estate event, said he was disappointed that people in the area had been unable to enjoy such talent despite it being on their doorstep.

“The fact that there were around 150 people reflects very badly on us as a metro,” he said.

“Most of the people who turned up were disappointed because they had paid quite a bit of money for a festival and received something very mediocre.

“I am very interested to know how much the municipality donated because that money could have been used to upgrade our beach in Wells Estate instead.”

Mbelekane said because the event was under the Splash umbrella, there should have been no cover charge. “I have requested that we have big names come to our side of town and perform on our beach, but because people had to pay so much money just to enter, it was expected that the turnout would be poor.

“The events in Summerstrand went off without a hitch, but why could this event [Wells Estate] not be organised properly as well?”

Mayoral committee member for sport, recreation, arts and culture Siyasanga Sijadu said the event was a learning curve.

“The idea behind having the event extended to Wells Estate was to include people on that side of town because, traditionally, the Splash is along Summerstrand’s beaches which often makes it difficult for everyone to attend.

“Had we known in December or January that Cassper Nyovest was coming to Nelson Mandela Bay, we would have been better prepared.

“I believe the challenge we faced with the poor attendance was the fact that tickets had to be bought [and] people were not willing to do this,” she said.

“Our role as the municipality was to support local artists at the event because various private stakeholders were involved in bringing Cassper to our city.”

Sijadu said they were looking at how to improve in the future. “Splash overall was well attended, the weather was on our side and it was an exceptional turnout, even better than last year.”

Nyovest performed at about 6pm and left for another event in KwaZulu-Natal on the same night. Meanwhile, several vendors at Hobie Beach had mixed views regarding the main event.

Charlo couple Colleen and Martin Botha paid a fee of R1 700 to place their stall and made that back on the first day.

Nasir Javed, who travels from Cape Town to sell his leather bags every year, said: “Business for the last three days has been all right, but today [yesterday] is a bit quiet.

“People do come and view but they don’t buy a lot.”