Over 8000 revelers descended on Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium on Saturday as the national Metro FM Heatwave tour made its debut in the city.
Gates opened at 12pm and the crowd was kept entertained until the wee hours, with an entertainment lineup that included artists and DJ’s such as Lerato Kganyago, Dimples, Big Nuz, Sphectacular and Naves and kwaito heavyweight Thebe.
In a touching tribute to former president Nelson Mandela on the anniversary of his death, the floodlights were switched off and a struggle song played.
Homage was also paid to late kwaito star Brown Dash with a collection of his most memorable hits played to a screaming crowd.
Litha Yaya, one of the event organisers, said a total of 8320 people had turned up.
Yaya hailed the event as a huge success.
“I’m extremely happy with how the event worked out. Everything went off without a glitch. One of the best things of the night for me was the safety and security, which was simply excellent,” he said.
“Usually at these events I always stress about how that part will play out, but everything went smoothly and there were no complaints. What I normally do is that I put my number up in a visible place so that anyone with a complaint can call me or drop me a message on Facebook, but this time there was nothing and that’s great.”
Ample parking inside the grounds was offered to ticket holders, with traffic officers deployed to control the traffic flow.
Crowd control went off well with a limited waiting time at the gate. There were enough portable toilets to avoid long queues.
Reveller Viwe Ngxamngxa said everything at the event had lived up to his expectations.
“The only negative for me is that cooler boxes were only allowed in for a limited amount of time. I thought that was unfair because the drinks sold inside the venue were really expensive,” he said.
Fellow reveller Andile Washe said everything was good.
“This should definitely come back next year,” Washe said.
Yaya concluded: “The East London crowd was great. We had a lot of people flying into town for this event from all over the country and most of the local hotels and B&B’s were full, so not only was the event a success, but this was good for the local economy too. The Metro FM Heatwave is definitely coming back to East London next year.”
Metro FM Heatwave debut a success
Gates opened at 12pm and the crowd was kept entertained until the wee hours, with an entertainment lineup that included artists and DJ’s such as Lerato Kganyago, Dimples, Big Nuz, Sphectacular and Naves and kwaito heavyweight Thebe.
In a touching tribute to former president Nelson Mandela on the anniversary of his death, the floodlights were switched off and a struggle song played.
Homage was also paid to late kwaito star Brown Dash with a collection of his most memorable hits played to a screaming crowd.
Litha Yaya, one of the event organisers, said a total of 8320 people had turned up.
Yaya hailed the event as a huge success.
“I’m extremely happy with how the event worked out. Everything went off without a glitch. One of the best things of the night for me was the safety and security, which was simply excellent,” he said.
“Usually at these events I always stress about how that part will play out, but everything went smoothly and there were no complaints. What I normally do is that I put my number up in a visible place so that anyone with a complaint can call me or drop me a message on Facebook, but this time there was nothing and that’s great.”
Ample parking inside the grounds was offered to ticket holders, with traffic officers deployed to control the traffic flow.
Crowd control went off well with a limited waiting time at the gate. There were enough portable toilets to avoid long queues.
Reveller Viwe Ngxamngxa said everything at the event had lived up to his expectations.
“The only negative for me is that cooler boxes were only allowed in for a limited amount of time. I thought that was unfair because the drinks sold inside the venue were really expensive,” he said.
Fellow reveller Andile Washe said everything was good.
“This should definitely come back next year,” Washe said.
Yaya concluded: “The East London crowd was great. We had a lot of people flying into town for this event from all over the country and most of the local hotels and B&B’s were full, so not only was the event a success, but this was good for the local economy too. The Metro FM Heatwave is definitely coming back to East London next year.”
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