DEAR Editor,-
I was surprised to read only glowing reports in the South Coast Herald about the Ugu Jazz Festival. This was not the experience of my family.
It was advertised that the park and ride would leave from St Martin de Porres School, so working to a tight time schedule, we took our children and staff to St Martin de Porres to connect with the park and ride, only to be told by someone standing there that the transport to the festival was not leaving from there as St Martin de Porres had not given permission for their premises to be used.
There were no signs to this effect, other than those indicating that it was a ‘Park and Ride’. One could have stood there for hours waiting for transport.
We had to dash to the Marburg Sports Grounds to drop everyone off and then fight our way through the roadworks to get to a vital appointment. We were very late!
Our children phoned us later to say that they needed chairs, so we told them to come out to meet us to collect the chairs. However, once inside the venue, they were not allowed to leave and we were informed that it would cost R100 for a car to enter just to drop off chairs!
Our children reported that the security was poor this year and that not all the artists who were supposed to perform actually arrived. All that said, the festival was enjoyed, but the above inconveniences detracted from it slightly.
CRABBY DAD
