After announcing that the 2017 Cruel Summer Picnic would be the finale of the popular youth event, the organisers have made a U-turn and have set another date for 2018.
And it promises to be bigger and better, as the event has been changed from a “picnic” to a “festival”.
Earlier this week, the organisers, 2 Kings Africa, surprised their fans with the announcement that the event would take place on December 1 and 2, starting at 5am, at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London.
The organisers announced that tickets were already available at Computicket.
Over the past six years, the picnic has grown in popularity and has been known for entertaining and welcoming back hundreds of students and young people working or studying in other provinces.
The event also kick-started the festive season in the city.
Last year, the Daily Dispatch reported that Buffalo City Metro paid the organisers R200,000 as part of their festive season sponsorships.
Speaking to the Dispatch on Friday, 2 Kings Africa creative director Fezile Moyana said due to popular demand, they had decided to hold the event again this year.
“We really did think that last year was the finale but after the event, we still got messages from fans enquiring if 2017 was really the finale,” Moyana said.
“We had not looked at our contracts with our partners properly, so they also asked us to continue with the event and so we decided to continue.
“In this industry it’s very rare that partners and brands will ask you to continue with an event,” he said.
Moyana said changing the event from a picnic to a festival meant that fans could enjoy more outdoor activities with great entertainment.
“There will be more local artists as this is a platform for them as well.
“There will be go-karts during the day, and a food market with more stalls.
“Our market is growing. We had to come back because even the small business owners who made some money during the event were asking us to come back,” Moyana said.
While a number of Cruel Summer Festival fans expressed excitement over the news, some called for the organisers to allow spectators to bring their cooler boxes into the stadium.
They also asked that the stage be better protected in case of rainy weather, as there were sound problems last year due to the rain.
Local and national artists are expected to be part of the lineup...