Khayelitsha - a mini-audit
the venue - Look Out Hill
service providers
media partner Radio Zibonele
jobs & revenue created
budget

General critique of the Sunday Spends Khayelitsha

The shows were a critical success, drawing strong crowds of some 200 people each week (the majority of tickets were given away for free) and offering excellent acts. The audiences and the performers both commented on their enjoyment of the event. The venue was one of the key factors. `When is the next one?' was the question from many people. All involved, from service suppliers to the manager of the venue to performers and producers were happy with the event and the fulfillment of its objectives.

Our biggest problem was the lack of knowledge of the venue. People in Khayelitsha do not know the venue as it has never before been used in such a fashion. Had we, for example, produced the event at the OR Tambo Hall on Mew Way, we would have drawn bigger audiences, as the venue is well known.

The objectives of the Sunday Spends Khayelitsha were:

* to create the first Sunday Spends franchise and test the potential of growing the brand
* to stage an event that draws people from across the city and attempts to bridge some of the city's divides
* to stage an featuring films in addition to music and poetry in an attempt to develop local film audiences
* to establish a database of skills and services that can be employed in future Khayelitsha events
* to assess the cultural talent of Khayelitsha
* to assess the service readiness of Khayelitsha in the production of cultural events
* to cement a relationship with the Khayelitsha Development Forum towards the production of the Awesome Africa Festival in Khayelitsha
* to test the Look Out Hill venue as a venue for much larger scale events
* to market Khayelitsha as a destination that is safe

How the objectives were met:

* The event proved that the Sunday Spends can become a strong brand on its own, and can grow into a vital aspect of urban regeneration. The response to the event exceeded our expectations. We will now look to register the website www.sundayspends.co.za, and are in the process of registering a non-profit organisation that can fulfil the funding needs of growing the brand as a non-profit, urban regeneration tool.

* The event drew a good mix of audience, with the majority of the audience coming from Khayelitsha. People came from places such as Woodstock, Cape Town CBD, Bonteheuwel, Landsdowne, Mitchell`s Plain, Langa, Wynberg, Plumstead, Kalkfontein, Muizenberg, Guguletu. For many members of the audience, it was the first visit to Khayelitsha.

* The screening of films proved popular. Our selection of films was drawn from independent film-makers based in Cape Town. They were all short films, ranging from five to twenty minutes. There is massive potential for films in Cape Town and we are starting to look at how we can create sustainable cinemas in the townships to provide an outlet for film expression.

Our difficulty with the screening of the films was blocking out light to ensure a bright screening. Unfortunately we failed on both shows to adequately do this. For further events we would need to raise additional budget to hire in experts to ensure a perfect screening situation.

* The process of putting the show together put us in contact with a great number of skilled performers in Khayelitsha as well as other areas. Many people called in response to our marketing asking for a space to perform. There is a massive hunger for spaces to perform, but a severe lack of those spaces.

* There is a lack of necessary service providers in Khayelitsha for staging an event. Most of the services we required, other than performers, we had to draw from outside of Khayelitsha. See
SERVICE PROVIDERS for details.

* As a result of the Spends we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Khayelitsha Development Forum. This gives us a mandate to produce the Awesome Africa Festival Khayelitsha. The Sunday Spends was the means of showing to the KDF the kind of format the festival will take and the potential it has

* Look Out Hill proved to be the perfect venue. It is beautiful, multi-functional, easily accessible and big. It is also inexpensive at R150 per hour.