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FISH HOEK will be a decidedly un-festive place over the coming months as both the Fish Hoek Mardi Gras and the loudly announced Fish Hoek Festival seem to have gone belly-up in the last few weeks.

According to Kathy Cronjé, who organises the Fish Hoek Mardi Gras, the festival will not take place this year due to a series of de?vastating losses in her family which have kept her from her duties.

"We also had some trouble with sponsorship," says fellow organiser Julie Hvidsten, "but we plan to go full steam ahead for next year".

It is, however, the announcement that Fivestar PR was pulling out of the Fish Hoek Festival (FHF), which was supposed to take place in Easter, that stings the most, accor?ding to Vanessa Husband of the Fish Hoek Chamber of Commerce.

"The marketing company, who originally pitched the idea of the mega festival to Fish Hoek three months ago, announced their re?signation early last week," Husband says.

"We were stunned when the memo came through, as people were excited about the idea and some businesses had already star?ted promoting it.

"We assumed Fivestar would bring their own list of sponsors to the table when they presented the idea, but this was not the case.

"They presented the plan to various groups in the community but expected each to find their own funding. We suggested that for the festival to be successful, they would need to appoint a local manager to coordinate efforts. For this funding would have been essential.

"I guess people in Fish Hoek did not grasp their concept, but we will try to salvage what was lost," Husband says.

One Fish Hoek Festival Committee member accused Fivestar of backing out just when they faced their first challenge.

"Everyone who has been involved in festivals in the Valley knows the amount of work that goes into it.

"We all have different daytime jobs and do all the fund-raising and admin at night or on weekends.

"Fivestar has run away at the first sign of work," the member said.

In Fivestar's letter of resignation, the company stated that, with the disbanding of Fish Hoek Valley Tourism, there was no longer an official body in the area to drive the project forward. The company also stated that it could no longer spend time on a project without remuneration and consequently handed it over to the Fish Hoek Festival Committee.

In the light of this statement, Fivestar was approached in an attempt to ascertain what they actively did to help promote the festival and which sponsors they had approached.

Unfortunately Fivestar's principal, Janie van der Spuy, was on holiday and could not be reached. Partner Rebecca Atherstone declined to comment.

"I think these are questions for Janie and I don't want to pre-empt her answers. We will respond to the article in letter form," Atherstone said.

The company did agree to continue with the PR and publicity aspect of the festival, free of charge, if it should continue.

The Fish Hoek Pagan Festival, on the other hand, seems to be growing from strength to strength and recently gained official approval from the City of Cape Town to be held at the end of December, according to organiser Akim Riemer. "We want to say loud and proud that we will be going ahead. Along with the death threats and hate mail we have also had an amazing response from various groups and individuals," Riemer said.

"We are also negotiating with some of the best bands in our country to perform.

"I think people will be surprised when they see the kind and quality of talent who will be signing up," Riemer says.

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