So, why the R50?
One of the most common and frequently asked questions that we get is: ‘So, why the R50?’ and we thought that it’s about time that we break it down.
Cape Town Pride is the biggest Pride on the African continent with 10 days of fabulous events, with 26 inclusive events happening over those 10 days.
If we look just at the main day, the Parade and Mardi Gras, the numbers can get a bit scary! Before we even set a sequinned heal onto the field we have to get R20 000 000,00 public liability to make sure that we comply with the new City of Cape Town By-laws and to make sure that if anything happens, we are safe and sound.
Once we have done that we can place said heel onto the field which cost, roughly, R90 000,00. Now that we have the field, we have to put the basics into place like; security, fencing and cleaning which comes in at about R77 000,00. This excludes the extra 20 cleaning staff which we hire from shelters in the area to make sure that the area is spic-and-span afterwards.
So we have the Public Liability, the Field and the Basics. next on this list is the Essentials. Things that fall into this list would be; Safety Officers, Medical, Lighting, Stage, Sound, Sound Engineer, Tenting and Permits (these include items like; SAPS Risk Rating certificates, Noise Exemption certificates, Rate-Payers approval, Traffic approval, Liquor License, Temporary Structure Applications, Structural Engineers sign-offs, Environmental Impact certificate). This whole endeavour costs in the region of R155 000,00.
Now that we have Public Liability, the Field, the Basics and Essentials we can finally move on to the stuff that makes the Mardi Gras: People and Artists.
We are very lucky that many of the artists that perform on stage at Pride discount their rates so that we can have them on this amazing day. On average we have to budget about R22 000,00 so that we can cover their basic costs.
So to host just the Parade and Mardi Gras we are looking at R400 000,00. To achieve this we have to get at least 8000 paying people through the door to make the event happen.
Cape Town Pride also gives away about 1500 free tickets to NGO’s/NPO and community projects whose members cannot afford the entrance fee. The policy at Cape Town Pride is that no one is turned away and if you can not afford it, you should approach your local LGBTI+ NGO/NPO/Community project and get your ticket.
This amount doesn’t include any of the other 25 events happening during the Pride weeks. It also doesn’t include the outreach donations that we make such as; R40 000,00 to the Nkoli House Project, production of the One Voice magazine, annual food donation to Homes for abused and abandoned children and a grassroots project that we support in the community.
Think of your R50 as partying and celebrating with a conscious. Pride is for everyone, and together we can make a more diverse and inclusive LGBTI+ community in Cape Town.
