Transforming a working farm into a festival ground that can accommodate a multiple-stage music festival and camping facilities for thousands of fans is no small feat. However, local events company Impi Concept Events has managed to achieve this for the past three years, with support from locally sourced suppliers and sub-contractors.
Managing director and co-owner of Impi Concept Events, Stuart Berry spoke with Pro-Systems in an interview during the show and explained that he and his partner in the business, Andrew van Rensburg, decided to take over the management of Splashy Fen in 2015. “Having grown up in KwaZulu-Natal, Splashy Fen has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” explains Berry. “When we started investigating taking on the festival, the event was under tremendous financial pressure. However, Andrew and I recognised the enormous potential that the event still offered for local businesses, artists and fans alike,” he states.
Berry and van Rensburg have put together a dedicated and driven team that delivers on every aspect of the festival – from organising artists to ensuring that the festival does not impact the fragile ecology of the site. Berry states that the support that they have received from local business has been pivotal to their success. “Pietermaritzburg-based entertainment technology company, Sounds Ideal supported our vision and ethos from inception. Company owner Nadeem Moosa and his team have successfully provided full technical for the event over the past three years – and we could not have succeeded in turning the festival around without their continued support and dedication.”
As a locally based company, with roots in the community, Impi Concept Events remains focused on empowering the local community – from working with local suppliers and sub-contractors to prioritising local talent when booking artists. “According to a study done by Tourism KZN, Splashy Fen has a direct and significant effect on the local economy, bringing more than 45 million rands to the Underberg and surrounds in 2017,” Berry states.
Impi Concept Events managed their first Splashy Fen in 2016, which saw 3,200 people in attendance. In a remarkably short space of time, the team have more than doubled these numbers, with 8,500 people entering the festival grounds this year. However, both Berry and van Rensburg agree that they do not see attendance numbers as the most important measure of the event’s success. Rather, the team are committed to retaining the family-friendly and deeply personal vibe of the festival. “We want to see Splashy Fen becoming a more immersive and enriching experience for our fans, both young and old. The future of Splashy lies in it being more than a music festival, but a multifaceted immersive experience, where every person feels intimately involved in all levels of activity on offer,” van Rensburg explains.
