[dropcap]E[/dropcap]aster is celebrated yearly at the Nissan Easter Festival in a very special way. Family and friends gather from all over Africa to enjoy a spectrum of entertainment for everyone to enjoy!
The Nissan Easter Festival took place from 19- 28 March at the world-class Kyalami Equestrian Park in Johannesburg. It came alive for a full weekend of action-packed events including: showjumping and dressage, an Easter egg hunt, a dog agility show, a fancy dress competition, a horse carriage race and a Lipizzaner show. South Africa’s top riders such as Nicola Sime, Annemarie Esslinger, Lorette Knowles-Taylor, Dominey Alexander, Barry John Taylor, Ronnie Lawrence, Nicole Horwood, Sam McIntosh, Ray Korber, Oscar Ncube and Lisa Williams all competed in a large variety of high-energy equestrian classes and gave the crowd a nail-biting performance as they witnessed the hard work and training of these respected riders.
The first part of the festival focused on the dressage classes, while the remainder of the show mainly featured showjumping events. The main class was the 2016 Nissan SA Outdoor Grand Prix which took place on Monday 28 March. After a competitive run from all who participated, the winner’s podium rankings where:
First place: Nicola Sime Riley
Second place: Shannon Smith
Third place: Lauren Smorenburg
Fourth: Lorette Knowles-Taylor
Fifth: Chris van der Merwe.
In the junior events, the 2016 Nissan Children’s Outdoor Grand Prix winner was Matthew Morrison, with his horse Hundred Runs, took home the Ella Paulson Memorial Trophy.
Other highlights of the festival included the Nissan GT-R High Performance Challenge and Nissan Six Bar.
Delicious food markets were available with various treats and a kids zone filled with mechanical rides, jumping castles and craft activities. The adults got to socialise, sit back and relax with each other and enjoy all that the day had to offer with some of South Africa’s most familiar faces, including the recently crowned Miss South Africa 2016 Ntandoyenkosi Kunene.
With such an exciting programme of events for all who attended, it is no wonder why this free entrance family event is such a huge success year after year. CEO of Nissan South Africa, Mike Whitfield was “delighted that this year’s event was such a success and cannot wait to see what next year has to offer, we will ensure that we keep up the momentum and high standard of the Nissan Easter Festival”.
This event is definitely one to diarise. Make sure you are there to experience all the excitement Nissan has to offer.