Artists such as Martin Bester, Pieter Koen and Appel have voiced their sadness after the Weiveld live music venue announced its permanent closure on Wednesday.

As the arts and culture sector starts to recover from the hard financial knock of Covid-19 over the past two years, local musicians have been left shattered by the news.

The venue, situated in Boschkop Road in Zwavelpoort, has been operating since 2015.

Bronberg Hub marketing manager, Chantelle Botma, says the venue shut down due to a ‘noise complaint lodged by a neighbour’.

She says all planned performances have been cancelled as of Wednesday, adding that ‘we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and we thank you for your support over the years’.

Many musicians from around the region who have performed at the venue have expressed sadness at news of the closure.

Singer and radio presenter at JacarandaFM, Martin Bester, says the closure is a blow for artists.

“A lot of venues have closed down due to Covid-19, and now that we can finally return to some kind of normality, Weiveld closes.”

“At first it was Platteland and now it is Weiveld.

“It’s important to musicians in Pretoria that places like these remain open and are not closed. It is not great news at all,” Bester says.

“I have great memories of Weiveld and it was great to be part of the family. The organisers always went out of their way to look after us as musicians. It was a pleasure to perform at the venue,” says Bester.

The Marketing Zoo’s Wian Smith says they have been working with Weiveld for many years and they have been supporting the South African music industry ‘endlessly’.

“It’s a big loss not only for Pretoria, but also the whole entertainment industry,” Smith says.

“We have grown together and have amazing memories from the day that we attended their official opening.”

Musician Pieter Koen says as much as the venue was a great place for musicians, music lovers also enjoyed it.

“It created a dynamic vibe for music-goers. It was one of my favourite venues to perform at,” says Koen.

Afrikaans singer and songwriter, Appel, says Weiveld ‘felt like family’.

“An incredible number of people have now lost their jobs and we as musicians have one less huge stage,” Appel says.

“As if the lockdown wasn’t bad enough, Weiveld gave their best to stick to Covid-19 rules.

“There were so many good memories. We are going to miss that place,” he says.

Musician Janie Bay describes the music venue as “legendary” for creatives.

“It’s sad that they are closing, but I believe the owners will reopen a new venue going forward.

“We thank them for the opportunity they gave us to showcase our talents,” Bay says.

Another musician, Deon Dee, says he could not recall a single bad performance at the venue as he always had a great time.

“It was always so nice to perform there, and I cannot think of one bad moment from the stage. Our artists would like to say many thanks to Weiveld.”