SA stars to shine at the Knysna Oyster Festival

What do Vanessa Haywood, Bruce Fordyce and Jonty Rhodes have in common? They are all participating in various sporting events at this year’s Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival which takes places from 2-11 July! Actress, model and star of District 9, Vanessa Haywood will compete in the festival’s gruelling BIG 5 challenge to raise money for The Starfish Foundation. She is currently in the UK shooting another movie, The Sweet Shop, and training at the same time in preparation for taking on five unique sporting challenges – the Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour MTB and Road races, the Salomon Featherbed Trail Run presented by Petzl, Duesouth XTERRA’s dual sports challenge and the Pick n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon. Follow Vanessa on Twitter (@VanHaywood) to see how she is preparing for the Big 5 or visit www.oysterfestival.co.za to see her training programme. Bruce Fordyce, nine time winner of the Comrades Marathon, will run the Knysna Forest Marathon on Saturday 10 July. Fordyce was first invited to run the Forest Marathon in 1988 and has completed a number of races since then. Jonty Rhodes will be coming to Knysna with his brother Clinton to run the Salomon Featherbed Trail Run as part of a fitness and weight loss programme his brother has recently embarked on. Earlier this year the Rhodes brothers completed the three-day Sani2C Mountain Bike Race together. Another sporting legend, Ryan Sandes, ultra marathon extraordinaire and Go Multi’s 2008 Trail Runner of the Year, will be back in Knysna in July to compete in the Salomon Featherbed Trail Run, while top South African XTERRA athlete Kent Horner is excited to finally get the opportunity to test his duathlon skills at the action packed DUESOUTH XTERRA Knysna presented by REHIDRAT®. With this year’s Oyster Festival less than two weeks away, the programme has been finalised and the town of Knysna is making final preparations to receive the large influx of visitors expected over the 10 days, which have been touted as The Best 10 Days of Your 2010! Tickets for the various events are on sale and contacts are as follows: • Whisky & Jazz Festival on the Paddle Cruiser and at Cruise Café, Cathy Warren 083 290 3136 • Wade Bales Wine Festival, Gavin Hobson 074 657 6176 • Pick n Pay Oyster & Wine Mardi Gras presented by Tabasco, Gino Adriaensen 082 674 0182 • Proudly Knysna Gala Dinner, Charmaine Sinclaire 073 418 9908 • Official Heineken® Afterparty featuring The Parlotones and Flat Stanley, tickets at www.webtickets.co.za There are a few entries left for the following events: • Salomon Featherbed Trail Run presented by Petzl, Chris Crewdson 084 560 2003 • Geo Oyster Geocaching Adventure, Mark Dixon 082 213 5931 • Oyster Festival Bridge Tournament, Carol Butz 082 414 2310 082 776 0238 • Duesouth XTERRA presented by REHIDRAT® Hydration Powder, Leandra Knoetze 084 464 3877 • Knysna Lagoon Challenge presented by Ristorante Enrico’s and Manja Kwa, Trevor Niksch 083 653 5185 A number of not-to-be-missed festival events are free and open to the public including The DCAS Knysna Oyster Soccer Tournament, The Greater Knysna Rugby Tournament, The SA Dog Agility Championships, The Waitron’s Race at the Waterfront, The Oystercatcher Shucking Competition presented by Tabasco, The Longbarn Oyster Eating Competition presented by Tabasco and The Navy Band in Concert at the Waterfront. There are full programmes at the Oyster Festival Carnival Grounds, the Proudly Knysna Festival in Hornlee, Woodmill Lane Leisure Shopping Centre and the Community Libraries. There will be live music at many local restaurants and of course, the Tabasco Oyster Hotspots will offer delicious garnished, cooked or “au naturel” oysters at festival prices! An arts programme includes a French film festival, exhibitions at local galleries, Nights of 1000 Pictures in aid of Knysna Hospice and a Pavement Art Competition in support of Animal Welfare at Woodmill Lane Leisure Shopping Centre. The Pick n Pay Young Oyster Festival will run a daily programme for children at The Oyster Festival Grounds, which is also the venue for the popular Knysna Sports Fair supported by Pick n Pay. The Knysna Sport School Sport Fair presented by the Department of Sport & Cultural Affairs at The Heineken Pavilion is free and open to kids of all ages. The full programme is available online at www.oysterfestival.co.za.