The 31st annual Loerie Awards was recently held in Cape Town – the first time ever in the long history of this prestigious event. It is the most anticipated event on the South African creative calendar and there were great celebrations (and a little bit of skepticism) when Cape Town was announced as the host city for three consecutive years. But by all reports the Awards has found a great host and was hailed a huge success by attendees, who despite the bad weather and howling winds attended in droves.
Following months of hype and anticipation, the festivities kicked off on the 24th of September with the Mayor’s Welcome Party at Charly’s Bakery on Harrington Square.
The by-invitation-only party was hosted by Cape Town’s executive mayor, Alderman Dan Plato, who welcomed the guests with the assurance that Cape Town not only has a lot to offer but that it is ready to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The rest of the festivities included two glamorous carpet awards ceremonies, some daytime entertainment in Camps Bay and 24/7 party fever in Long Street, which was transformed into Loerie Village for the duration of the long weekend. The Loerie Awards ceremonies took place on the Friday and Saturday nights and transformed the Good Hope Centre into a red carpet venue and “the place to be seen”.
According to Andrew Human, CEO of The Loerie Awards, hosting the awards in Cape Town was a huge success. “The Good Hope Centre was a great venue for the Awards,” says Human. “There was a lot of skepticism about this venue, but South Africans have to get tuned into the beauty of using old buildings and making them useful and special again. The latest and most modern is not necessarily always the best and we can learn from the Europeans who host glamorous events in old buildings all the time.”
Record attendance
The Loeries had a record attendance this year, according to Human, who believes that Cape Town’s accessibility contributed to this. “We had a lot more marketers attending, and especially some senior marketers, who last attended the Awards when it was hosted at Sun City,” says Human. Another reason for the record attendance is that where the smaller agencies would normally send one or two representatives to The Awards, these companies sent their whole team this year.
Human believes that Cape Town’s big city and tourist city status added to the success. The city is used to a great influx of tourists and has the infrastructure to handle big events. Global Conferences, who was tasked with managing accommodation in the city centre, had very few bookings made through them, which was disappointing. “I think the reason we had so few bookings is because Cape Town has so many accommodation offerings. A lot of the delegates also stayed with family or friends and others preferred to make their own arrangements or booked outside the city centre,” says Ridwaan Jacobs.
However most accommodation establishments in Long Street reported a great turnout and even those located as far up as Protea Fire and Ice and The Hippo Hotel reported Loerie related bookings.
Lower down in Long Street The Grand Daddy Hotel served as the official registration centre and also the “Loeries Nest”, where some industry giants stayed. Group GM Stefan Botha feels that the success is a result of months or planning and hard work. “Registration, accommodation arrangements and a whole lot of parties at the Grand Daddy all happened without any hitches. It was a pleasure hosting creatives, executives and quite a few die-hard party animals from all over SA!” says Botha.
Long Streets cosmopolitan and fun vibe also contributed. “We simply built on the existing atmosphere to create the party of the year,” says Human.
“The aim of The Loerie Awards is to promote the creative industry and Cape Town provided the perfect setting to create an open event where people could get an understanding of the industry and where even those who did not attend could see this as a desirable event. We really had a much bigger exposure and Cape Town and Long Street’s fun cosmopolitan environment was a contributing factor to this.”
Bad weather was the only negative of hosting the awards in Cape Town is the weather, says Human. “We really need Cape Town as a city to show some commitment regarding this,” he jokes.
Good Business
But despite the weather, most businesses situated in Long Street and the surrounding streets reported good business. Restaurants like Jardine Bakery in Bloem Street, Boo Radley’s Bistro and Bar in Hout Street, Royale Eatery and Kitchen and Jo’burg Bar in Long Street all reported to have spotted a change in their crowds. With lots of Capetonians leaving town for the school holidays, Heritage festivities and Whale Festival in Hermanus some eateries and retail outlets had a much busier time than expected.
Donae Hurst of ECHO Events and Traffic Integrated Marketing says that most stores were very happy with the road closures and tents in Long Street. Keeping shop owners informed throughout the planning process as well as throughout the weekend helped and shops that made an effort to decorate their windows and issue coupons benefited from increased trading. Stacey Lipschitz of 210 on Long agrees that the Long Street party zone was a big success.
Jo’burg Bar’s Vaughan Craigg describes the weekend’s activities as awesome. “We’ve been trying to get Long Street closed off like this for years and, as expected, it was great. Something similar is planned for the Fifa final draw celebrations on the 4th of December and we can’t wait to play host again!
Behind the scenes
Of course events of this magnitude needs some well oiled machines working in the background. Cape Town Tourism and Cape Town Partnership are two organizations that contributed greatly to the success of The Loeries.
“Cape Town is used to hosting large events, festivals and conferences so there were no logistical teething problems,” says Marisah Smith, Marketing Manager of Cape Town Tourism. “Everyone was where they were supposed to be and ready to support the organisers. In addition, Cape Town is home to many of the country’s most creative agencies so there was much pride in playing host.”
Smith believes that accommodation establishments in the City Centre and surrounds, transportation companies who handled the transfers, as well as many of the bars and restaurants in the vicinity of the party benefited greatly. “Cape Town as a destination certainly benefited from the positive PR and reinforcement of its identity as a creative destination,” says Smith. “The weather was not ideal, but as far as negatives go – that’s one we really can’t control. It also would have been good to see more shops and restaurants rising to the theme challenge – especially to see more ego-centric shop windows, but that would be something to work on next year.”
The City of Cape Town’s proactive attitude to events is key to sustaining tourism 365 days of the year and helps a great deal in hosting successful events. Private companies and organisations are also coming up with great concepts for events which keep Cape Town’s events calendar interesting. “Our eventing services industry is very professional and well equipped and we are proud to host slick events that are incident free,” says Smith. “In addition, organisations like the CCID have been a reassuring contributor at many city events.”
Safety and Security
Muneeb Hendricks, Cape Town Partnership’s security manager reported that there were no criminal cases reported during the Loerie weekend. There was an impressive presence of SAPS, traffic officials, metro police as well as private security companies, which was arranged by the award organisers. “During events like this the CCID and others concerned with safety and security focus on petty offences and we had around 30 bylaw offences reported. This includes drinking in public, which normally leads to the more serious offences. We find that it works very well to clamp down before things get out of hand and to create a culture of law.”
“This event was very well organized and planned and Cape Town’s ability and infrasctructure to handle an event like this contributed to the success,” says Hendricks.
Cape Town Partnership’s Social Development Manager Pat Eddy, agrees that The Loerie weekend went very well. “Our field workers were on the streets during the festival and we had no reported incidents with regards to social issues. We were pleasantly surprised and with all the increase security and policing we found that the street children and youth that we normally see interacting with tourists and visitors in specifically Long Street and surrounds, actually kept away. This is great news for next years Soccer World Cup but we will have also have a comprehensive strategy in place which will include more permanent and voluntary field workers.
By most accounts Cape Town exceeded all expectations in hosting The Loerie Awards. It was the first of many similar events planned for the months leading up to next year’s Fifa World Cup and the city seems to be ready to party!
