The Dogg headlines crayfish fest
Musicians from Lüderitz are upset for being considered as second option and not good enough by their town council to headline the annual Crayfish Festival.
Having been running successfully for ten years and now onto the 11th event, the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival is aimed to promote Lüderitz as a tourism destination and to put Lüderitz on the calendar of Namibian events. The event, organised by the Lüderitz town council, needs to continuously ensure that people flock to the town to ensure economic growth and local economic development.
Answering questions by the media, the town's CEO Aunie Gideon says the council does not have fixed criteria for the selection of entertainment acts and no public invitation was extended to invite local acts to perform at the festival. According to her, for the past five years the Crayfish Festival had removed music shows from the activity list as it does require stringent logistical arrangements and it's not financially viable.
“Due to consideration by the organising committee, it was decided as a one-time event to approach a local artist that can be as a crowd drawer and The Dogg emerged as the preferred act and a quotation was sourced from him,” said Gideon.
Gideon says her town council is committed to supporting the local community as is evidenced by the various local businesses participating in the festival as well as local services used by the organising committee as they are the backbone of the town. However, she says Lüderitz prides itself as a town full of diversity and we expect attendance by people from all regions of the country as well as South Africa.
“As much as the intention is to promote local businesses and talent, we are also cognizant of the fact that collaborating with people from all regions adds value to our event and town. This is because the Crayfish Festival has proven itself not to be a local, or regional event but rather a national event and therefore the pressure is on to continually raise the standard of activities,” she says.
The organising committee considers The Dogg as one of Namibia's leading local artist whose talent has been recognised through the numerous awards he has received over the years both locally and internationally. With this, the committee believe he has the capacity to pull and appeal to a large crowd. Gideon concluded by saying a cheaper quote does not necessarily equate to a crowd puller as they aim, at the end of the day is to draw crowd to the town and event.
“There are other events conflicting with the festival such as the NAMAs where the majority of artists will be performing and any big event normally requires a 'crowd puller' and this act is unfortunately not always local,” she said.
The Crayfish Festival officially started yesterday and will end next week Wednesday.
June Shimuoshili
Answering questions by the media, the town's CEO Aunie Gideon says the council does not have fixed criteria for the selection of entertainment acts and no public invitation was extended to invite local acts to perform at the festival. According to her, for the past five years the Crayfish Festival had removed music shows from the activity list as it does require stringent logistical arrangements and it's not financially viable.
“Due to consideration by the organising committee, it was decided as a one-time event to approach a local artist that can be as a crowd drawer and The Dogg emerged as the preferred act and a quotation was sourced from him,” said Gideon.
Gideon says her town council is committed to supporting the local community as is evidenced by the various local businesses participating in the festival as well as local services used by the organising committee as they are the backbone of the town. However, she says Lüderitz prides itself as a town full of diversity and we expect attendance by people from all regions of the country as well as South Africa.
“As much as the intention is to promote local businesses and talent, we are also cognizant of the fact that collaborating with people from all regions adds value to our event and town. This is because the Crayfish Festival has proven itself not to be a local, or regional event but rather a national event and therefore the pressure is on to continually raise the standard of activities,” she says.
The organising committee considers The Dogg as one of Namibia's leading local artist whose talent has been recognised through the numerous awards he has received over the years both locally and internationally. With this, the committee believe he has the capacity to pull and appeal to a large crowd. Gideon concluded by saying a cheaper quote does not necessarily equate to a crowd puller as they aim, at the end of the day is to draw crowd to the town and event.
“There are other events conflicting with the festival such as the NAMAs where the majority of artists will be performing and any big event normally requires a 'crowd puller' and this act is unfortunately not always local,” she said.
The Crayfish Festival officially started yesterday and will end next week Wednesday.
June Shimuoshili
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article