Recession has very little impact on Wacky Wine Weekend

2009-06-26

Friday, June 26, 2009 by Robertson Wine Route

The 2009 Wacky Wine Weekend has once again ensured great fun for everyone with a love of wine and a zest for life.

With 16 076 visitors (compared to 16 049 visitors in 2008) streaming to the Robertson Wine Valley, the organisers are very pleased with the outcome considering the current economic conditions. With this number, the Wacky Wine Weekend maintained it's position as the biggest regional wine festival in South Africa.

'Seriously Wine Thursday' formed part of the weekend for the first time this year and went down well. With this extra day, the wineries catered for guests requesting a more serious approach to wine tasting. With many of the master tastings, educational wine presentations, etc. being fully booked in advance, this is something the organisers definitely consider continuing.

Another first at this year's Wacky Wine Weekend, with the assistance of ARA (Association for Responsible Alcohol Use), was the 'Designated Driver Program' which formed part of the Zero Tolerance policy. This required people to register as designated drivers for the weekend, if they were not going to drink and as reward, they were issued several vouchers for breakfast, non-alcoholic drinks, etc which could be redeemed at those specific farms who sponsored the vouchers. A total of 139 people registered as designated drivers. Also forming part of the Zero Tolerance policy again this year, was the Buddy Bus service, which consists of a chauffeur driven bus for the day for groups of 10 people or more. This service was used by 27 groups, with the total number of people being 426. This number is only what went through the Robertson Wine Valley office. Numerous groups hired busses privately to transport their groups, which shows that people are becoming more responsible regarding drinking and driving.

Festival-goers might have noticed the interesting artwork on the goodie bags this year. This was an initiative made possible by ABSA. This entailed an art competition where local artists could do a painting reflective of the valley. The winning paintings, by Braam Coetsee and Johanna Kriel, were printed on the goodie bags and the paintings itself auctioned after the competition, with Van Loveren and Viljoensdrift placing the winning bids. Robertson Wine Valley will match the funds generated from this auction and the total sum will be used to buy stationary and utensils needed for local crèches.

With Wacky Wine Weekend 2010 taking place from 3-6 June 2010 and the FIFA World Cup starting 7 June 2010, guest houses and hotels are already receiving their first bookings for next year. According to Calvyn Gilfellan, Chief Executive Officer of Cape Town Routes Unlimited (Destination partner of the Wacky Wine Weekend), the success of this winter wine festival might be because of "the good quality, well-priced wines in the area; the various wine estates that you can visit; the celebratory atmosphere; the genuine plattelandse hospitality, the beautiful scenery or a combination of these. The people fall in love with this valley once they've visited it and tasted our wines, and they just have to come back for more!" said newly appointed manager, Elizma Spangenberg.