Anton Groenewald, manager of the cycle tour, emphasised the need for sustainable partnerships between sporting and arts events in the city, saying that the festival would fulfil a need to provide quality entertainment for cycle tour audiences. "We are pleased that the Cape Town festival's single largest arts event has been repositioned to meet this need," he said.
According to festival CEO Yusuf Ganief, "Partnerships are key to the festival's success and we are collaborating with local arts, theatre and music venues to bring you a bigger and better Cape Town festival." He cited the dual benefits of the partnership, and its potential to market each event to a different audience.
Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool noted that, "The business and social benefits that such a partnership creates are extensive - meaningful partnerships between government and the private sector, as well as within the private sector, form the cornerstone of good business development. Annually the festival creates entrepreneurial opportunities for over 2600 arts, crafts, events, logistics and technical practitioners."
Over 111 000 people attended the festival in 2005, but this number is expected to rise substantially in 2006 due to the partnership with the cycle tour, generating considerable revenue.
