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Plettenberg Bay – “What happens here happens during Plett Rage and outside of Plett Rage,” Ronen Klugman, manager of the school-leavers’ party in Plettenberg Bay, told Netwerk24.
He was responding to Netwerk24’s video about Plett Rage.
“I think the video was choreographed to tell the story of how much money the matrics spend,” he said.
“I think they are celebrating their freedom and they can spend as much as they’d like. If you think about it, they are not spending that much. It costs R800 easily these days for a meal plus wine for two people.”
Klugman sees the festival as a rite of passage to adulthood for matrics.
“They work hard during the year and now they are done with school and can legally drink and are entitled to a party and the festival allows them to do that in a controlled environment,” he said.
According to Klugman, the festival serves a commercial need but the organisers realise that they have a huge social responsibility.
“For many of them it is the first time at a music festival and we are sensitive about it. We go to a lot of trouble to ensure their safety.”
He said the matrics are not allowed to drive into the festival grounds to prevent them driving drunk.
Some festivalgoers complained about the free transport system and in response, they have brought in extra buses to shorten queues, Klugman said.
“Of course matrics are going to party and be into each other and that is just how it goes. That’s life,” he said. “We are not running a missionary station here. It is rock ‘n roll here,” he said.
“When you become a student life becomes more serious. This is the free-est they’ll ever be. All they have to do, is to party.”
