"One of the requirements for participating in the Festival is that every official event must have a charity component," says Festival Manager Nicci Rousseau. "This is what makes the festival unique and is certainly one of the criteria we use to judge the success of the 10-day event.

Marketing Director of Pick n Pay Retail, Jonathan Ackerman, said he was gratified by the amount raised. "One of the main reasons we became involved in the Oyster Festival as naming sponsors was because we want to play a meaningful role in the upliftment of local communities," he said.

The funds are spread across the board to different charities and development programmes in Knysna.

Traditionally the Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour is the biggest fundraiser and this year was no exception, with a whopping R550 000 raised for charity. The money will be divided amongst various local crèches, the Knysna Sea Cadets, the Knysna Sports School, the Knysna Educational Trust and Rotary’s Bursary Fund and Leadership Programme.

The Pick n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon, traditionally the next largest fund-raiser, this year raised R269 000 for SWD Sports Development, the Knysna Taxi Association, Epilepsy SA, Youth for Christ and Lions International.

One of the most successful lifestyle events, the Pick n Pay Oyster & Wine Mardi Gras presented by Tabasco, raised an incredible R98 000 which will be shared amongst Knysna Child Welfare, the Knysna Sea Cadets, the Bill Gallagher Development Fund and the SACA Garden Route Disaster Relief Fund.

Race4Change, the Pick n Pay web-based sponsorship programme, raised over R40 000 by encouraging race participants to obtain sponsorship for their race efforts. These funds will go to the ePap feeding scheme, the Sunflower Fund, Animal Anti Cruelty League, Rotary, QuadPara Association and Meals-on-wheels.

Says Rousseau: "Smaller events contributed anything from R500 raised by Kids Help Kids organised by Arts Alive, to R30 000 raised by a new golfing event, The Golf Digest Bells Classic. The Knysna High School, which relies on fundraising to augment teachers' salaries and maintain its facilities, raised R110 000 from the Oyster Carnival programme on the school's sports fields.

"What excites me about the amount raised this year is that it is nearly 12 percent more than we raised last year, despite the fact that visitor numbers may have been slightly down and people seemed to spend less than in previous years because of the downturn in the economy.

"This was because we had many more events this year and all of them were very well supported. Our aim is to increase the amount raised for charity every year and next year the challenge will be to get close to R1.5 million!"

The 2009 Oyster Festival will be held from 3-12 July with the Cycle Tours on 4 & 5 July and the Knysna Forest Marathon on 11 July. Diarise it now!