BREAKING: Ballito Rage Festival has been canceled
The festival opened for the first time on Tuesday 30 November 2021 with unprecedented Covid-19 protocols in place, including mandatory vaccinations for all staff and guests and pre-arrival Covid-19 tests for all guests.
After a lot of speculation and controversy surrounding the continuation of the Ballito Rage Festival, the event has now been canceled.
But not without KZN sharing their true feelings after hearing about the cancellation...Listen to what some of East Coast Radio listeners had to say below.
Read more: Ballito Rage cancelled after 36 Covid cases
Organisers of the Ballito Rage Festival have released the following media statement:
"We take the safety of all our customers, staff, and suppliers extremely seriously. It is for this reason that the event organisers have taken the decision to cancel the remainder of Ballito Rage."
The festival opened for the first time on Tuesday 30 November 2021 with unprecedented Covid-19 protocols in place, including mandatory vaccinations for all staff and guests and pre-arrival Covid-19 tests for all guests. A testing facility was located near the event site and staff testing commenced on 29 November 2021 and of the first 122 staff tested, zero presented positive.
Read more: Ballito Rage kicks off despite Ramaphosa's call for event postponements
On 30 November all remaining staff and all guests underwent Covid-19 tests at the testing centre near the event site prior to entering the event. Between 14:00 and 22:00, 940 guests and staff were tested and 32 guests and 4 staff presented positive results. The Department of Health were on-site and worked together with our team to conduct contact tracing and ensure isolation of positive individuals and staff as per government protocols.
After further exhaustive review this morning, consultation and guidance from the local and provincial Departments of Health and other key stakeholders, the decision was collectively made to cancel the event going forward based on the data now available to us.
"It is our responsibility to do the right thing, based on facts, collaboration and the resources and tools we have available. We highly commend and sincerely thank our partners at the Kwa-Zulu Natal and Illembe Departments of Health, local Municipality, SAPS, Chamber of Commerce and all others who have worked with us daily from the beginning to deliver the safest event possible in these extraordinary times."
Read more: 'No vaccination, no entry' at Ballito Rage 2021
"Whilst we understand the disappointment that this causes for those who were looking forward to enjoying the festival, these are unprecedented times. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and support. Ticket holders will receive further information in the coming days via email. We strongly urge all ticketholders who choose to stay in Ballito further to continue to be extremely responsible, stay safe and play their part in fighting the spread of Covid-19."
Main image attribution: Rage Festival/Facebook