Organizers of the annual VOC festival 2015 have revealed that sales for food and non-food stalls will open this coming Saturday between 7am and 1pm, at the VOC studios in Salt River. Around 40 food and 80 non-food stalls will be available, and a secondary sale period will only be opened should the stalls not sell out on the day.

At present, logistics and preparations for the event are nearing completion, with plans having already been submitted and approved by both the City of Cape Town, and event hosts at the Vygieskraal Stadium. This includes the arrangement of medical, security, disaster risk, and traffic requirements. In terms of parking, festival-goers will now be able to attend the festival with their vehicles without concerning themselves with parking fees, as parking has been allocated free of charge. Parking will now be situated at the rugby field adjacent to the stadium.

“The event is guided by disaster management, and in 2013 we had a parking problem. Because people had to pay for parking, that led to time constraints and congestion. This year we decided on free parking to all festival-goers,” explained VOC sales manager Hassiem Bastra.

A key attraction of the festival down the years has been the range of sporting events held throughout the weekend, and preparations in this regard are well underway. Sporting codes that will be present this year include school level cricket and rugby tournaments, netball, as well as the ever-popular Ulama soccer match.

The rearrangement of the festival from late December to May is also expected to play into the hands of corporate exhibitors hoping to showcase their products at the event.

“The bookings have already opened, and we’ve sold about 30% of the corporate exhibitions so far. For now we already have on board Market Toyota Athlone, our NGO Muslim Hands, Crescent Lifestyle from Johannesburg, and a newly launched magazine in the form of Islam Today,” said Bastra.

Several other exhibitors have also confirmed their presence. Those companies or organizations seeking to acquire an exhibition stall may contact Bastra at 021 442 3503.

Non-foods stalls for this year’s festival will cost R2000, whilst food stalls will be R2800. Registration opens on Saturday the 11th April between 7am and 1pm at the VOC studios, 1 Queenspark Avenue, Salt River.

The VOC Festival 2015 takes place from the 7th-10th May 2015. VOC