"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
I don't think that the people involved in the organization of the festival went out of their way to inconvenience the citizens of Observatory, or in fact enrich themselves. From what I understand they managed to salvage a situation that would have scared off the most adventurous event organizer. I certainly cannot point a finger at the running of the event as I did not get involved. If you feel you made every contribution to a successful event that you can then by all means feel free to criticize. I for one don't want to live in Wisteria Lane, and think Obz needs things like the festival to make it the interesting, vibrant, cosmopolitan suburb that it is. Let's give credit where credit is due, and use the appropriate forums to build a better community. Anton Twigg -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Biddy Greene Sent: 07 December 2010 06:39 PM To: The Observatory Neighbourhood watch Subject: [obsnw] Re: Shopping at Spar etc during the Obs fest "The festival got permission from the Business owners to close off the area." Is it legal for "the business owners" to stop me walking up the street unless I pay? Closing off vehicular traffic (who can drive round another way) is quite different from making people have to pay - or go far further afield - if they want e.g. a litre of milk. My husband did in fact manage to talk his way in without paying, but that's not the point. There was at least some other stuff to eat, btw - John got some really nice kebabs from Ganesh. This was a fiasco; but surely we can get it right next time...? On Dec 7, 2:28 pm, "Julia Teale" <[email protected]> wrote: > I was given to understand that it was obligatory for Obs residents to pay R30 > per person to have weekend access to the area whether they were interested in > the festival or not. It disgusted me but I coughed up R90 anyway (there are > three of us in the household) as I realized it was too late to complain about > this decision and request something more realistic. I was then issued with > pathethic paper armbands with halloween logos that we had to cut off when we > needed to shower and then laboriously reattach with sticky tape each time we > wanted to enter our own shopping district. I disagree with the notion that > the festival was a success. It was cobbled together last minute and a bunch > of generously minded musicians agreed to perform. The stalls were horribly > boring, selling rubbishy tourist tat and the only food to be had was > borewors. And we call this a Festival of Arts!!!!! My heart went out to > those clubs and pubs who had paid musicians to play and had to charge an > entry fee to cover costs. The attendance at these places was poor because > people resented having to pay yet another entrance fee. What a fiasco. I > suggest that next year you call it what it is "The Obz Beer Fest" or the "Obz > (now carefully monitored) Bender", or, more playfully, "The Obz Jol" but > please, not the Observatory Festival of Arts. If you wish to understand why, > please attend Grahamstown Arts Festival, or Outshoorn Festival. > > Further, as a concerned and interested resident, I would like to see, > publically posted, clear accounting for the event. What money came in, what > was paid out and to whom, and who benefited financially from the event. I > think as a resident I have a right to this knowledge as it will affect my > support of any kind of this event in the future. > > Julia Teale ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ancois Bester > To: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 4:56 PM > Subject: Re: [obsnw] Shopping at Spar etc during the Obs fest > > Hi Jo, > > The festival got permission from the Business owners to close off the area. > Gate staff did however use their discretion where residents were concerned > and the policy was to let folks pass to be able to do their shopping at Spar > or visit the video store. > > Best, > Ancois > > On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 3:03 PM, Jo-Anne Stolk <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi all > > On Saturday my husband and I thought we'd pop into Spar but were > foiled when we saw that the whole precinct was gated off (the gate to > the parking lot was locked as well). I didn't see anything about > access to shops for residents and we sure weren't going to pay the > entrance fee just to buy a bottle of cooldrink at Spar. Were the shop > owners aware that non festival-goers wouldn't be able to shop there? > Was any provision made for residents needing to access these shops? > > Jo > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. 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