Outeniqua Transport Museum to be transformed for Garden Route Homemakers Expo

Says John Leyden, Managing Director of Homemakers Fair Cape (Pty) Ltd and organiser of the Expo: “The museum offers a total of 5 000m². We'll be using 4 500m² for the expo, with approximately 1 800m² of this area used as exhibition space. The rest will be common areas and aisles. As a working museum, it's the ideal venue for exhibitions. We love the fact that it adds loads of character to our expo. Old and new complement each other as most of the museum displays are incorporated into our layout.”

Although the museum offers an ideal exhibition venue, it is not an easy task to build this expo as most of the necessary infrastructure materials need to be brought down from Cape Town. According to Hendrik Richter, Project Manager of expo service provider, Oasys Exhibitions, “We're taking two 30 ton trucks and one 8 ton truck filled to the brim to George. These will contain the shell systems for the stands, all the carpeting, electrical equipment, generators and furniture. More than 20 staff members will be responsible for building the stands, laying the carpets, sorting the electricity supply to all the stands, and so forth to be expo-ready on opening day. We'll take about four days to transform the venue.” To cool down the venue, 44 evaporative and industrial fans will also be brought from Cape Town and positioned throughout.

Leyden adds: “We'll have more than 100 exhibitors, ranging from basic home improvement products to innovative décor ideas for the home and garden. One of the greatest benefits is that the Expo offers a vast array of products and services under one roof.”

During the Expo, certain sections of the Museum will be cordoned off and closed to the public. The vintage cars will not be on display as well as some of the static steam locomotives and vintage rolling stock. All the smaller items will be moved into a central area which will still be accessible.

The Expo will be open from 10:00 to 20:00 Thursday to Saturday, and from 10:00 to 18:00 on Sunday. Entrance is R30 for adults, pensioners pay only R20 and children under the age of twelve enter free of charge.

The Cape Homemakers Expo forms part of Homemakers Media Holdings, a national group that presents eight similar home lifestyle shows in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, George and Vaal Triangle annually.

For more information phone (021) 511-2800 or log on to www.homemakersfaircape.co.za.