'Biggest Christmas in July' event an even bigger flop
Image: Supplied by SANBI
After a disastrous opening week for Gauteng botanical gardens' Christmas in July, the SA National Biodiversity Institute [SANBI] has decided to cancel its contract with Gallery Naomi and organiser David Huni.
SANBI also warned the public not to purchase tickets for another event by the same organiser set to take place at the end of August.
The Enchanted Forest of Lights Christmas in July event opened last Wednesday and was set to run until August 4 at both the Pretoria National Botanical Garden and at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens. But the event was terminated on Tuesday evening after numerous complaints by visitors who left scathing remarks on the event's Facebook page.
Some of the complaints included underwhelming attractions and a two-hour queue to get into the venue.
SANBI, in their notice of termination, said Huni failed to meet the required standards of event delivery as per the contractual obligation.
According to the statement: "As a result of customers' bad experiences at the Christmas in July events, SANBI has also taken a decision not to enter into a venue-hire agreement with Huni for the Giant Creature World Expo event scheduled to take place between August 30 and September 8.
"SANBI urges members of the public not to purchase the tickets at our gardens," it said.
Huni did not answer several calls by TimesLIVE at the time of publishing but on Sunday put out an apology on the Enchanted Forest of Lights Facebook page to apologise to ticket holders for long queues and traffic outside the gates.
"For our future events we would like to guarantee you that we will be much improved. We have learnt a lot from your feedback through social media and your concerns have been noted," the notice read.
Naomi Phipson visited the park with friends on the opening night and said the event was "underwhelming".
"I remember saying 'wow, I will never pay R80 to see this again'.
"The event was really underwhelming and we went to the ticket holders to ask if we had perhaps missed something because there were promised attractions - like the enchanted forest - which were missing.
"There were maybe five - let's call them 'attractions' - but just really nothing that great. There were a few food stalls selling food that wasn't Christmassy'. There was a beverage stand which didn't have beer - or maybe they forgot their keg - it was only 7pm," she said.
Image: Supplied
Teresa Alvess went with her disabled mother Marlene on Saturday but had to leave after standing in the queue for more than 40 minutes.
"We had a 6pm slot to come in but when we got there it was chaos. Thousands of people were standing in two queues at the gate. We were wondering why people were being let in if we were allotted times to enter.
"When we got there, there was no disabled parking. My mother had to stand with her walker in the queue and was accused of pushing in when we took her to sit near the entrance. A woman exited the park and said the waiting time was two to three hours. So we just left.
"I felt so sorry for my mom, she was so disappointed. But after reading the comments on Facebook - I'm glad we didn't get in. We will be asking for a refund and needless to say we won't be coming back."
Alvess said the line of cars outside the gate was 2km long when she left.
This was not the first event by Huni to cause a stir.
In March 2016 his Port Elizabeth Dino Expo was also cancelled after he went on a social media tirade accusing the Eastern Cape city residents of being "cheap complainers".
Within an hour of his rant Walmer Park shopping centre's management cancelled the exhibition.
“We had a number of assurances made by the organisers to provide a world-class dinosaur display as well as fun dinosaur-themed kids activities but some of these commitments were not met and the organisers have been informed that this constitutes a breach of their signed contract,” Walmer Park shopping centre spokesperson Deveda Bloema said.
SANBI has offered ticket holders free access to either the Pretoria or the Walter Sisulu gardens, for the whole family, on Women's Day as an apology.
Howler, the ticket service provider requested that members of the public go to them for refund queries.
"We are not in control of the production of the event and had no control over your experience at Christmas in July," they said.