Good news for Outdoor Festivals in Western Cape
We spotted what looks like good news for the plethora of outdoor festivals that are hosted every summer in the Western Cape.
Organik Love Project – Photo: Aumega Photography
According to this article [pictured below] published in a local Overberg newspaper – The Gazette we believe – which was shared on social media, the Theewaterskloof Municipality commissioned their attorneys to obtain clarity on what they term ‘raves’ being hosted in their area.
The good news
Their legal firm, Fairbridges Wertheim Becker has confirmed that a municipality cannot approve or disapprove an event.
In terms of the Events Act it would seem that the only role a local municipality has to play in determining whether outdoor festivals can take place is
- Enforcing Sound level restrictions
- Safety – with regards to traffic, fire and building safety
But probably the most significant finding by the municipality’s legal firm is that event organisers DO NOT have to get consent from affected neighbours to host their event.
As long as safety and noise level regulations are adhered to, the event is good to go.
Not only psytrance events…
The past year has been a testy one for event organisers who host events, specifically in the Overberg area and psytrance promoters have bore the brunt of these since there are a lot of trance parties during the 9-10 month outdoor party season.
Although professional psytrance promoters such as Alien Safari, Vortex, Organik and others do ensure that they have the correct permits before going ahead, they have still had to deal with resistance from some sectors of the communities in these areas.
There has been no evidence, however, to show that these outdoor festivals have had a negative impact on local communities so when there have been complaints lodged they’re usually related to intolerance and the perception that ‘ravers’ are bad people.
Of course we know, and history has proven it, that the behaviour at most of these outdoor parties is actually no different than at a major sports event so usually the objections are unfounded.
Outside of psytrance there is also Synergy Live, a two day event, which actually takes place at Theewaterskloof Dam each year and this is a municipal venue. They’re one of several outdoor festivals that have been hosted at the venue over the past 15 years.
There’s also the burgeoning deep house and techno outdoor party scene that continues to grow in the Western Cape, although these are often day parties and last only 12 hours so they’d probably attract less resistance than than the 24 hour (or longer) events.
In a nutshell, as long a promoters are professional, ensure that they adhere to the noise level restrictions and have all their safety precautions in place, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be business as usual this next party season. Now let’s just get through winter, brrr.
