Visfees lives up to expectations
'One big party'
A couple of newly introduced competitions resulted in more fun at the annual coastal festival.
The Henties Bay Visfees once again lived up to expectations with more than 50 exhibitors, ample doses of top-quality entertainment, and hundreds of visitors in attendance.
This year’s event also saw the introduction of a far casting and fear factor competitions, in addition to the popular angling competition with Beefcor Namibia as the main sponsor.
Persistence pays
Aubrey de Jager, the grandson of the legendary female angler Sarah de Jager - after whom the fishing spot Sarah se Gat was named - was one of the biggest winners on the day. He was the second angler to arrive at the scale with a 5.815 kg steenbras and eventually earned N$20 000 as the angler who caught the heaviest edible fish. The top catches for the other categories changed rapidly in the last 30 minutes of the competition after a slow start.
“I made my catch on a mixture of chicken liver and pilchards at Mile 72. We started fishing at 06:00. At 11:45, I decided to have a go for another 15 minutes before we threw in the towel, and that's when I hooked my prize-winning catch,” he said.
Aubrey, who uses Excalibur rods constructed in Henties Bay with a Daiwa reel, advised anglers to keep on trying and to experiment by mixing baits. “I’ve been angling for 44 years now. This is my first win while my son, Jecoby, had previously won the heaviest kolstert (blacktail) category on two occasions.”
Good fun and classy acts
The fear factor competition accommodated ten participants and was won by Elanza le Roux. She was the fastest in consuming an oyster swimming in "dikmelk", a pilchard in chili sauce, a shot of seal oil, a raw white mussel, an octopus leg, and a raw pilchard. The money generated through the two competitions will be handed over to the Henties Bay Tourism Committee.
In addition, the South African acts Gerhard Steyn and Demi Lee Moore with Barthlo Visagie (lead), Francois Kleynhans (bass guitar), and Jason Moser (drums), perfectly complemented the local musicians Savannah Collins, Jacob & Taylor, and Kaufee Kapelle - to mention but a few.
Clash of events
Charlene Husselmann of Pikes Ink Art said they will definitely be back in the future. “It was our first time here. We did great with over 20 clients on the second day. The Outjo Wildsfees, however, clashed with this festival and we would have loved to be present at both.”
Dorothea Goagoses of BYC Clothing said the festival provided a good experience overall despite a drop in sales and attendance numbers. “We had a good number of visitors and we appreciated each and everybody that went the extra mile to come to the festival.”
She suggested that the organizers consider a different date for the event. “The school terms change and they need to identify a date that does not clash with other events. It's usually farmers who come for a holiday with their children that support the festival.”
Another exhibitor, Vicky Agenbag concurred: “There are too many things happening at the same time. Business on the first day was very quiet. However, I made enough sales on day two and this made my trip from Walvis Bay worthwhile.”
Appreciative
For local entrepreneur Isaiha Gaes, the owner of Baster Kos, everything went well. “It was our first time at the festival and we will be back. The event provided a superb platform to promote our curry offal and 'roosterbrood'. The customers were friendly and very supportive.”
An organising committee member, Karel Agenbag, said he was pleased with how things turned out. “The weather played along and the tent was packed to the brim with visitors. It was one big party. The new events we introduced also brought more fun and we have a couple of ideas to make the next one more special. Thanks to everybody who came out and those who made this festival possible.”
This year’s event also saw the introduction of a far casting and fear factor competitions, in addition to the popular angling competition with Beefcor Namibia as the main sponsor.
Persistence pays
Aubrey de Jager, the grandson of the legendary female angler Sarah de Jager - after whom the fishing spot Sarah se Gat was named - was one of the biggest winners on the day. He was the second angler to arrive at the scale with a 5.815 kg steenbras and eventually earned N$20 000 as the angler who caught the heaviest edible fish. The top catches for the other categories changed rapidly in the last 30 minutes of the competition after a slow start.
“I made my catch on a mixture of chicken liver and pilchards at Mile 72. We started fishing at 06:00. At 11:45, I decided to have a go for another 15 minutes before we threw in the towel, and that's when I hooked my prize-winning catch,” he said.
Aubrey, who uses Excalibur rods constructed in Henties Bay with a Daiwa reel, advised anglers to keep on trying and to experiment by mixing baits. “I’ve been angling for 44 years now. This is my first win while my son, Jecoby, had previously won the heaviest kolstert (blacktail) category on two occasions.”
Good fun and classy acts
The fear factor competition accommodated ten participants and was won by Elanza le Roux. She was the fastest in consuming an oyster swimming in "dikmelk", a pilchard in chili sauce, a shot of seal oil, a raw white mussel, an octopus leg, and a raw pilchard. The money generated through the two competitions will be handed over to the Henties Bay Tourism Committee.
In addition, the South African acts Gerhard Steyn and Demi Lee Moore with Barthlo Visagie (lead), Francois Kleynhans (bass guitar), and Jason Moser (drums), perfectly complemented the local musicians Savannah Collins, Jacob & Taylor, and Kaufee Kapelle - to mention but a few.
Clash of events
Charlene Husselmann of Pikes Ink Art said they will definitely be back in the future. “It was our first time here. We did great with over 20 clients on the second day. The Outjo Wildsfees, however, clashed with this festival and we would have loved to be present at both.”
Dorothea Goagoses of BYC Clothing said the festival provided a good experience overall despite a drop in sales and attendance numbers. “We had a good number of visitors and we appreciated each and everybody that went the extra mile to come to the festival.”
She suggested that the organizers consider a different date for the event. “The school terms change and they need to identify a date that does not clash with other events. It's usually farmers who come for a holiday with their children that support the festival.”
Another exhibitor, Vicky Agenbag concurred: “There are too many things happening at the same time. Business on the first day was very quiet. However, I made enough sales on day two and this made my trip from Walvis Bay worthwhile.”
Appreciative
For local entrepreneur Isaiha Gaes, the owner of Baster Kos, everything went well. “It was our first time at the festival and we will be back. The event provided a superb platform to promote our curry offal and 'roosterbrood'. The customers were friendly and very supportive.”
An organising committee member, Karel Agenbag, said he was pleased with how things turned out. “The weather played along and the tent was packed to the brim with visitors. It was one big party. The new events we introduced also brought more fun and we have a couple of ideas to make the next one more special. Thanks to everybody who came out and those who made this festival possible.”
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