Desie Heita
29 April 2008
Windhoek — The Lüderitz Crayfish Festival was a major success with organisers saying the entire festival exceeded their expectations.
The public gobbled up more than one tonne of rock lobster and an unmentioned quantity of other seafood, in just one day.
"It was a major success. We could measure this success by the number of visitors who turned up for the event. The feedback from the business community and the public at large is that the festival was a great event," said the spokesperson for the coordinating committee, Fluksman Samuehls.
The main event started early on Saturday morning with a procession of the Namibian Navy musical band marching through the town's streets to the waterfront.
Norbet Kloste, one of the residents, said, "I enjoyed every part of it."
Kloste said the festival is a great way for the Lüderitz Town Council to promote tourism in the town.
He said the town has a lot to offer to tourists.
"The town has a very rich history," he said Samuehls said the tourism industry benefited the most. All the 600 available beds in Lüderitz were fully occupied for the week leading to the festival. The town itself also benefited through publicity.
The town's business community initiated the festival in an effort to create a new and modest economy for the harbour town, which is mainly dependent on fishing.
Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Libertina Amathila, who inaugurated the festival on behalf of President Hifikepunye Pohamba, congratulated the initiators of the festival for "a creative marketing strategy that places Lüderitz as a unique brand in Namibia, as our unofficial crayfish capital".
Amathila said Lüderitz Town Council has set a good example by concentrating on bettering the residents' lives as opposed to concentrating on infighting as is happening at some towns.
"I urge both local authorities and regional councils to spend their time on meaningful and productive programmes, rather than unending inner conflicts and friction. The internal conflicts and friction between local authorities and regional councils only serve to disadvantage the communities that need development initiatives to be undertaken. Please refrain from unnecessary tensions and conflicts and follow the good example of Lüderitz," Amathila said.
After the formal speeches by the dignitaries, the public was invited to share in a popular Spanish seafood dish of paella. The paella is a mixture of crayfish, mussels, calamari, and rice - all cooked in one big pot. A dash of pepper is added for flavour.
Crayfish, which was sold at a ridiculous price of N$10 each, was the order of the day, with visitors queuing up to have a sample of what Chef Nobert Moses can cook.
With a limit of 20 lobsters per person, the queue to the lobster stand was the longest as the public tried to cash in on the offer.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources donated a quota of rock lobster as part of its contribution towards the festival.
Local chefs and restaurants all pitched in by offering one-off seafood menus at half the normal price.
Local small businesses had also erected stalls, selling everything from traditional food to homemade merchandise. Even entrepreneurial children - Lee-Monique Anderson and Shirne Bruce - cashed in on the festival by erecting a stall to sell sweets and homemade cookies.
Samuehls said with such spirit next year's festival is going to be bigger and better. The organising committee has already scheduled a meeting to review the festival's programme and see how they can improve for next year.
The meeting, which took place yesterday afternoon, was for "a critical analysis, an assessment of the entire event," said Samuehls.
He said one thing they have identified for the next festival is to include South African tourists.
As of now, the town of Lüderitz is no longer the forgotten harbour town on the southern side of the country.
Non-residents such as Francois Maasdorp believe the town has more potential than what people accord it. Maasdorp travelled from South Africa to sell a crop of potatoes.
Next year's festival is to be held over a long weekend to allow more visitors to travel to the town.
An extended period will also allow visitors to visit other places of attraction in Lüderitz.
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