JUST ABOUT anything to do with fish and fisheries will be celebrated and exhibited at the first Walvis Bay Fisheries Expo and Festival this weekend (24 to 26 May).
The festival is a joint initiative by Paragon Investment Group and the Walvis Bay Municipal Council, with Standard Bank Namibia joining as a N$200 000 sponsor.The festival will be a curtain raiser for Namibia’s second national ‘Olupale Leeshi’ fish conference that will take place in Swakopmund the following week.’Walvis Bay is the centre of Namibia’s fishing sector. From here, most of the local fish products are exported locally and to foreign markets. There are also numerous fisheries service providers here, and for this reason we thought this would be the ideal place to host such an event,’ said Walvis Bay Mayor, Derek Klazen.The festival will kick off with a gala-evening on Thursday during which fisheries stakeholders and the Minister of the Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhard Esau will deliver the keynote address. Seafood is expected to be on the menu.The bulk of activities will be held at the Walvis Bay civic centre where stalls will exhibit products and services – all related to the fishing industry.According to Neville Basson of Paragon, the expo will especially give small and medium enterprises (SME’s), the opportunity to showcase their goods and services. It will also be an opportunity for matchmaking and networking.’Several large fishing companies are going to sponsor fish and seafood for the event, and so the small businesses now have the opportunity to prepare the food and sell it to the customers,’ he said.Over 10 000 people are expected to attend the expo.’Fish is expensive, even locally. What we want is for fish to be made available cheaply for all to enjoy during this time; and not just hake, but of the large variety of fish we have in our waters. Here, everyone can and must come and enjoy Namibia’s world class fish products,’ said Klazen.Exhibitions will be on Friday and Saturday, but that will not be all. A street procession is planned for Saturday morning where all kinds of floats will make their way through town, while the first ever Walvis Bay Fish Festival Rugby tournament will be held in Narraville with some of Namibia’s top clubs playing one another for big prizes. The tournament will be hosted by the Walvis Bay Kudus Club with the blessing of the Namibian Rugby Union. Two women’s rugby teams will also participate.Even more, two of Namibia’s premier soccer teams, Blue Waters and Eleven Arrows will also provide some good football for the visitors.And if that’s not enough, a huge music festival on Saturday night at the Kuisebmond stadium, showcasing top Namibian musicians, with the likes of Mushe, Tequila, The Dogg, PDK and Raphael will bring the three day festival to a spectacular close.Tickets will cost N$30 for the music festival, and will also be sold at the expo at the Compu-ticket stand.’This is the first event, but we definitely hope it will be an annual event,’ said Basson. ‘This is all in the name of boosting the economy of Walvis Bay.’
