Durban - The countdown has started to the biggest social event on the African continent – Saturday’s R4.25 million Vodacom Durban July.
The final, frenzied week is all about fashion, “What are you wearing?” and fancies, “Which horse do you think will win?”, as a sell-out crowd of 50 000 plan their outfits, work out how much they will bet and what time they will arrive at the grandstands, the various marquees and picnic sites.
The massive event is worth about R440m to the region – and for the first time, there will be four double-decker marquees at Greyville this year.
Described by those in the know as “the ultimate status symbol” of the event, they have taken a full month to assemble.
The 30 tents in the marquee village, where 12 000 guests will be fashionably dressed – some sticking to the theme “The Leader of the Pack” – will be surrounded by 3 000m of steel fencing and 1 500m of picket fencing.
About 11 000m2 of flooring will cover the field, providing a stable ground for the many dance floors, plasma TVs, sumptuous buffets and fully stocked bars.
And from Thursday, 40 chefs will prepare 8 000 portions of Durban curry, 2 600 pieces of sushi and 1 200 oysters at Gold Circle’s many sit-down venues.
Phillip Sithole, head of Durban Tourism, said in keeping with the Leader of the Pack theme, Durban itself was definitely the leader when it came to staging world-class events and non-stop entertainment.
The Vodacom Durban July is the Durban fun season anchor event, with a host of other activities lined up for the entire week.
The city expected to make “no less than R1bn during the week,” a statement said, and it was expecting about tens of thousands of visitors, which would see the hotel occupancy rate averaging 85%.