Three months of top shows and fun activities, as well as more than a million rand in prizes will celebrate the opening of The Boardwalk Casino from the beginning of October.

People have been flocking to the casino from the whole of the Eastern Cape since the opening on October 2. More than 17 000 people went through the doors in the first 24 hours.

A Kenton-on-Sea pensioner won the first R10 000 jackpot in the first hour of the opening. Other visitors have come from as far as Cape Town and Pretoria to share in the fun of the opening of the first phase of the development.

"While the casino itself and sections of the children’s entertainment are fully functional, the rest of the complex will be opening in stages through to December," says general manager Graham Vass.

A big opening celebration is being planned for early December when all the restaurants, hotels, specialist shops and cinemas surrounding the lake open. "Then we’re really going to party. We’ll be putting on something special for the people of Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape to celebrate our must-see attraction ," he says.

Visitors will be encouraged to visit The Boardwalk by a range of entertainment and big prizes. "We’ll be launching the casino in grand style by giving away a million rands worth of cars and cash to people who visit us." "Naturally, with our goal of being ‘The Pride of Port Elizabeth,’ the cars in our first competition are all from Delta and Volkswagen, our neighbours in the metropole," he says. The Boardwalk will be giving away six Opel Corsas, a new Volkswagen Bug and hundreds of thousands in cash in a series of draws up to the third of January.

Children and the young at heart are catered for outside the casino by The Magic Company, which has a fun fair and high-tech video and games arcade in The Boardwalk complex. Once completed the fun fair will include a go-kart track and an adventure golf course, as well as numerous rides for children. The various outdoor rides and activities are being opened as soon as they are completed. "With its extremely competitive pricing, fun fair and games arcade will become one of the top venues for birthday parties," predicts Mr Vass.

While the children are having fun outside, one of South Africa’s top comedians, Joe Parker, takes to the stage in the Supersport Sports Arena at lunch time on the opening day. "The fact that we’ve brought Joe Parker to town despite the expected crowds on our first day shows our commitment to making The Boardwalk the Eastern Cape’s prime entertainment venue," says Mr Vass. It includes a sports bar which has monthly comedy weeks. Entrance is free to people who have paid their R20 entrance fee to the casino.

"The Boardwalk has set itself the goal of keeping prices down as far as possible at all our venues. It must be a place where families can have fun together," says Mr Vass.

In November, the opening of the conference centre as an entertainment venue will be a laugh a minute. Comedian Barry Hilton "The Cousin" will open launch Centrestage at The Boardwalk conference centre on November 6 and 7. Centrestage will be based at The Boardwalk from October. Other big name acts lined up for the Christmas season include Abigail Kubeka, Aaron and Lisa McIlroy, South Africa’s own Three Tenors from Cape Town, Soli Philander, Michael de Pinna, Mark Banks, Pieter-Dirk Uys and Rory Rootenberg.

The Festive Season is also party time, and a number of bands will have the convention centre rocking and boogieing the night away with Centrestage’s Christmas parties. Companies are already booking tables for their year-end parties at the venue, he says.

The Red Hot Latin Party, "a celebration of the hip-swaying rhythms and fiery fiesta of the Latinos," will be at the venue from November 22 to 24, and again from November 30 to December 2. "Eppie and the Boys head up a 10-piece musical line-up which will breath life into current chart-topping Latin artists such as Rickie Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and guitar maestro Carlos Sanatana. Add to this a dash of La Bamba and Volare from the likes of The Gypsy Kings and Gloria Estefan and the night is set to sizzle!" says Mr Vass.

The party momentum builds from December 22-26 as the focus shifts back to good old Rock n Roll, with a few more nights of the comedy and music mix of Let the Good Times Roll.

"New Years Eve promises to be a bash in the company of zany favourites Aaron & Lisa McIlroy," says Mr Hemmings.

Outdoors the action will be centred around the Amphitheatre, which will host everything from car launches to the Soweto Strings Quartet and a Christmas pantomime.

"The pantomime will be for both the young and their parents. Cinderella becomes Sinderella at night when the kids are tucked up in bed,” says Mr Vass.

Local acts are being negotiated for the amphitheatre, the piano bar and the sports bar. "We will nurture local talent. You will see the likes of Eminent Child, Robin Williams’ Icon and local jazz bands in both the amphitheatre and the convention centre."

"Opportunities are also being created for local pianists, who will be playing in the casino’s piano bar every evening and at lunch-time on Sunday," says Mr Vass.

"With our goal of providing a constant variety of comedy and musical entertainment, there is plenty of scope for local artists – and a whole new world of fun for the family."

"There is more to The Boardwalk than the casino, shops and entertainment, however," he says. "Our quest is to provide friendly, continuous service excellence in everything we do. Visitors will leave with a smile on their faces because every visit will be a special experience. This, in turn, will help raise standards throughout the tourism and hospitality industry in Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape. Other operators will see that we can give world-class service, and they will be forced to improve in order to compete with us."

"World-class service will attract more tourists, and will encourage them to stay longer. In that way every local resident and business will win through our investment in The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World," says Mr Vass.