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Places to stay around Ficksburg Ficksburg
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Ficksburg Information Guide
Ficksburg is situated in the Eastern Free State between the Maluti
Mountains. Ficksburg is the closest town to the Lesotho border.
This small village is not only a busy trading town - but is well
known for it's scenic game farms. |
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The annual Cherry Festival is the longest running festival in South Africa and is held in November each year. Treat yourself to a visit to the largest cherry farm in Africa. Taste the famous Ionia Cherry Liqueur, that has become a landmark. Ionia offers cherry tours in season from October to November, pre-booking for visits is essential. Ionia is situated on the Fouriesburg road approximately 25km from Ficksburg. Lying in a rich agricultural area, Ficksburg is especially notable for the production of grain, livestock, cherries and asparagus. Ficksburg has fine gardens, parks and magnificent views of the Maluti Mountains. At Ficksburg High School, the S H Pellissier Art Gallery features works by South African artists, including murals by Pierneef. The idea for the first Cherry Festival took root in 1968 when a group of young men who had founded a Ficksburg chapter of Jaycee International, the international service/leadership development organisation, were looking for a project to launch their new organisation and perform a service to the community. Many ideas were thrown around, so it is difficult to say exactly how a Cherry Festival was arrived at!!! |
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Ficksburg
telephone code - 051 South Africa code +27
Internet
cafe -
Other useful InformationWhat is sure, however, is that Ficksburg is the largest cherry producing
area in South Africa, followed by its two neighbors, Clocolan and Fouriesburg,
and to a lesser extent parts of the Ladybrand district.
The Jaycees thus connected a Ficksburg product to a festival which would
then promote the cherry industry and the town. Today Ficksburg is known
throughout the country as the Cherry Town, and the two have become synonymous
with each other.
Through the years the Cherry Festival has grown in stature, and has become
one of the ‘events’ in South Africa, with thousands of visitors
visiting the Eastern Free State during cherry time. Special bus tours
have become very popular, and Ficksburg has become a ‘must’
for tour operators.
The first Cherry Carnival, as it was then known, was a very amateurish
presentation consisting a film-show at which the Cherry Queen was chosen,
followed the next day by a street procession of floats, drum-majorettes,
etc, and an open-air program at which not very much happened. The grand
Cherry Ball was, however, a great success.
Today the presentation is very professional and slick and the whole program
caters for a wide variety of tastes.
To the best of our knowledge the Cherry Festival it is the oldest crop
festival in South Africa
The Jaycees ran the festival from 1968 to 1985. After Jaycees disbanded
in 1985, a community committee took over the organizing and running of
the festival. This committee is made up each year out of representatives
of various sections of the community,who do all the hard work on a voluntary
basis.
Water sports and angling are enjoyed on the Meulspruit Dam, which is surrounded by a nature reserve. The dam is the starting and finishing point for the 23-km Imparani Hiking Trail. Ficksburg is a gateway to the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. One of the most exciting ways of crossing the rugged Maluti Mountain range into Lesotho is on the back of a Basotho pony. The traditional means of transport among the Sotho people, Basotho ponies are famed for their surefootedness in mountainous terrain..