The Fat Lady has Sung for the Gariep Arts Festival, Kimberley, South Africa - What Now?

The Gariep Arts Festival is hosted annually in Kimberley, South Africa, a city best known for diamond mining. Festivals contribute and add financial, cultural and social value. In 2018, this festival was discontinued. Annually, the festival attracted approximately 45,000 visitors and generated 600 temporary and six permanent jobs. It accommodated 187 stallholders and supported almost 300 performing artists. Thousands of children, elderly and disabled people visited for free. Visitors to the 2016 festival formed part of the population. Convenience sampling was used to complete 449 questionnaires. Results indicate that respondents also visited major shopping centres and the Big Hole. The stalls netted the largest single portion of the income. The out-of-town attendees spent significantly more at restaurants. The further afield festivalgoers represented a significant economic boost to the area, an evident fact when the total expenditure was evaluated. This festival will be missed by the community at large.