Statement for immediate Release

Cape Town, Monday 30 December 2019. Heart FM, its management and event partners would like to take the opportunity to apologise to all listeners, followers and fans who were disappointed with their  experience at yesterday’s Summer Festival. The station has an excellent track-record for producing world-class music events itself, however, saw an opportunity to partner with a reputable Cape Town based events company to offer a new experience for our listeners.

This new experience was never intended to replace the successful annual Heart Cape Town Music Festival, but to create a unique entertainment experience; at a time of the year when most people are enjoying the festive season and are on holiday with friends and family.

The intent of the Summer Festival was to end the year in a positive light by creating a shared experience for all ages; with the integration of DJs and live acts, multiple stages and entertainment for the kids. However, there were a few factors that affected us negatively on the day of the event, which have been addressed today as part of our event de-brief.

Festival attendees expressed their disappointment and raised valid concerns regarding the length of the queues , the cashless system, the costs of food and beverages by vendors and disappointing VIP areas.

The newly introduced ticketing and cashless system was meant to support and assist operations by streamlining logistics but as with any online system, is reliant on a stable internet connection. At times, the system went offline and caused a bottleneck in the queues. This cashless system also incurs additional operational costs for vendors, which in turn, effects selling prices.

Unfortunately, the “Cape doctor” also prevented us from carrying out all the planned activities and for safety reasons not all the children’s rides or man-made “beaches” could go ahead as envisaged.

Head of Radio Innovation at Heart FM, Denver Apollus, comments, “We would like to assure our listeners, that we take the feedback and comments on social media very seriously, and are deeply upset about the bad experience some of its patrons had at the Summer Festival. This was certainly a learning curve for everyone concerned, and we assure you that our intention is always to bring our listeners the best events in Cape Town.”

Events company owner and Festival Project Manager, Shane Abrahams, comments, “On behalf of our team we would like to apologize to Heart FM’s loyal listeners for the various unpleasant experiences. We wanted to offer a unique and seamless experience but instead, have learnt some valuable lessons, which will only improve our service going forward.”

Despite some of the anomalies, thousands of festival goers enjoyed the full day of entertainment and danced the night away with some of their favourite live acts such as Mi Casa, DJ Kent, Youngsta CPT, to name a few.

For any further enquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact us and the Heart FM Management team will personally respond to you and address your concerns.

Email us at Summerfest19@heartfm.co.za

-ENDS-