The Sedgefield Slow Festival is set to return in 2019. After taking a sabbatical for 2018, Sedgefielders will again be treated to their Easter entertainment with the Slow Festival.
Having grown it for nine years, event owner and organiser, Amanda Dixon, along with her steering committee of volunteers felt that the Slow Festival needed new input and direction. With the South African economic climate stretched, attracting sponsorship had become more challenging.
The Slow Festival has certainly evolved from its original beginnings – which started with a request to raise funds for charities in Sedgefield and put the town on the map, and with this ethos in mind it seemed logical that the future of the festival should be carried forward by a charity organisation which had organisational capacity, a broad reach in the community and connections with the business community. Thus, after careful consideration and discussions, it was decided that the Slow Festival should be passed on to the Sedgefield Lions to revitalise this local highlight.
Next year locals can again look forward to their favourite activities all wrapped up in a new format over the Easter break. ‘It was time for a change and new input to carry the Slow Festival into the future’ said Amanda.
Jurgens van der Walt of Sedgefield Lions, who also runs the new Sedgefield Info offices, will be the main overseer of the Sedgefield Slow Festival. He is delighted that the local Lions have decided to take this project on for Sedgefield.
“The value of the Sedgefield Slow Festival became evident when it didn’t happen this year. Being a service organisation, The Lions Club was the perfect entity to bring all the charities together to achieve a common goal. Now we just need the community and role-players to support this event,” he said.
For full details, in the new year watch this space and the Slow Festival digital platforms for details of the 2019 Slow Festival.