With only two weeks left until the biggest traditional horse racing competition, the Berlin November, takes centre stage, organisers say tickets will all soon be sold out.
Event organiser Marara Smondile said what has been termed as one of the biggest horse racing spectacles in the province, was scheduled for November 30 in Berlin.
He also said tickets for their flagship prime lounge marquee, offering the best entertainment, drinks and food, were quickly running out, and he encouraged interested people to book their places soon.
“80% of the tickets for the prime lounge have already been sold out. So people must move quickly and get their tickets now to avoid disappointment,” Smondile said.
Smondile said the main prize in the horse racing competition would be a surprise, and it would be made public on the day of the event.
“We are planning something big for this year’s main prize and it will be revealed on the day of the event.
“We are still finalising the details of that prize. Last year we gave away a brand new single cab bakkie with our partners. So it might be something else this year, because we need to keep it interesting each year.”
He said last year's event saw a jump in the number of guests, and they were confident their numbers would continue to climb significantly.
“Each year we grow by a certain margin, and last year we had 36,000 people attending. The year before that, we had about 20-25,000, and when we started we had about 3,000 people, and we are looking at pushing the numbers again this time around.
“So we are looking at getting 40-45,000, because there’s a lot of vibe and interest. People want to attend because we are still getting queries about the marquee availability and prizes.”
Smondile said they would ensure their guests and race participants were entertained. They had bolstered security at the venue, situated 47.8km outside East London.
“We are preparing for the event and any disruptions will be dealt with by the law enforcement officers who will be present on the day.
“We are also going to have a security cluster meeting very soon, and that’s where we are going to look at such things,” he said.
Smondile said they had a jam-packed artist line up, which would see popular kwaito music group Bongo Maffin being the main act. He said local artists include DJ GQ, Mwelo and others.
“This year we want to include local artists from Berlin to make sure the event is inclusive to locals. We did that in the past and we are doing it again this year.”