We were enthralled listening to the vibrant and enthusiastic Festival regaling us with fascinating tales about cattle and land, wars between the Boer and the Basotho, the historical gravesites on the farm named Ararat, and the many other stories making up the history of Clarens, a small town in the Eastern Free State.
Festival was born and raised on a farm 5km outside Clarens. At high school, he chose tourism as a subject and was fascinated and inspired by the history of this little “dorpie” and the opportunities for tourism in and around Clarens. Interestingly, Clarens has a special connection with Switzerland. Paul Kruger, president of the former Transvaal Republic, spent the last six months of his life in exile in Montreux-Clarens on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1904. Today, there are reminders of the town’s namesake with numerous houses resembling the Swiss architectural style.
Festival’s love of tourism grew, and he envisioned opportunities that would benefit Clarens and the surrounding townships. He courageously shared his dream and passion with numerous business people and connected with the like-minded Mr George van der Merwe. Fortune favours the brave and Mr van der Merwe introduced Festival to leaders from churches receiving investment funding from Switzerland due to that historic connection made in 1904. They agreed to sponsor a Tour Guide course for Festival and four other participants.
The tour operator business, Amazing Tours became a reality when Festival launched his business in 2018 as a qualified Tour Guide. Today he owns Amazing Tours and is highly active in the township where he is dedicated to developing young people. In this context, he met the co-ordinator of Phaphama Youth Development, Pastor Onwards Mvurume who encouraged Festival to attend the Give Yourself a Job Programme, sponsored by Red Rocket and facilitated by Lusa Social Entrepreneurship Institute, to improve his business skills.
Festival relates the value he received from attending the training and how The Give Yourself a Job Programme made a tangible difference. “I learned so much about business from this program; the first step, thinking “out of the box” to make sure everything about your business; your marketing messages, and your services connect with peoples’ hearts. I have put all my marketing materials in place; have printed my business cards, had my banners made,and advertisement boards, using different social media platforms so that people can easily contact me. I also learned that it is not easy to start and run a business but if you have passion, purpose, patience, love and endurance you can succeed. Mr Zwane the facilitator and mentor from Lusa SEI also opened my mind to think thoroughly about who I want to become in the Tourism Industry and business in general. My dream is to one day be a successful businessman in my township and able to help my community. To be someone who is able to change young people’s lives, by creating employment and through motivation by setting an example and sharing the skills I have learned to succeed. My life and business experience has become beautiful and wonderful, I want to thank the sponsors so much for investing in me. “
With Festival’s dreams and aspirations in creating a legacy, so the ripples continue- Lives changed in turn change the lives of others.
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