As Kenton-on-Sea consolidates its identity as an events hub, its business and tourism leadership remains concerned about moves to rename the neighbouring towns of Port Alfred and Alexandria. Marketing the destination and its ethos stood out as a priority as Kenton & Boesmans Chamber of Business & Tourism chair Justin Wilmot summed up the region’s fortunes over the past year at the organisation’s AGM last Thursday.
Emphasising the key role of tourism in the local economy, Wilmot referred to Ndlambe’s integrated development plan (IDP) – the blueprint for all strategic planning and decision-making in the municipality. At R2.45 billion, tourism contributed close to a quarter of the area’s R10.7 billion GDP.
With the Kenton Wine Festival leading the charge (plans are even afoot for a limited edition Kenton-on-Sea wine-blend…!), events have become an important way to attract specific markets.
The Theatre Route kicked off with a show called ‘I can buy myself Flowers’, a Literary Festival is on the cards and 2025 saw the Great Kenton Wine Festival – “the best ever” – come in to its own. Showing just how much that event has become part of the town’s identity, Axe Hills is blending special Kenton-on-Sea red and white wines, with a limited 300 bottles of each.
Other initiatives included Sunset Sessions at the Backyard; the Rotary Taste of Kenton festival at the same venue on September 27 and the Kenton Rhino Run the next day.
The Wellness Festival held earlier this year featured 53 different events over a week. A notable spinoff was that a group of yoga enthusiasts from the UK had opted to come for a week-long ‘bush and beach’ experience instead of their usual trip to Portugal.
April 2026 will see the inaugural AHWE Trail to Tide Swim and Run held on the region’s rivers and trails, followed by the now-established Kenton 100.
“We are busy talking to quite a few big events that have shown interest in including our area in their planning,” Wilmot said.
December would feature the usual festive season events: Sunset Sessions at The Backyard; events at The Volo, Jerry’s and Horns Up; the Boknes Cycle Race, The Kariega Classic, various art exhibitions, markets and the Seagull Regatta.
Wilmot congratulated Boknes on starting their own parkrun and mentioned the Amarider who have employed five locals to be trained as bike tour guides and who will create 45km of local mountain bike trails.
The AGM served as the launch of Kenton & Boesmans Chamber of Business and Tourism’s ‘Love where you live’ campaign – “a vision where members of our greater community come together to literally make it a better place to live”. It included cleaning and tidying up, planting, security and recycling. He referred his audience to Makhanda’s ‘Verge of Change’ project as a reference point.
Wilmot acknowledged the contributions to the community of the Kariega Foundation, the Kenton-on-Sea Ratepayers Organisation, Bushmans River Mouth Ratepayers Organisation and Estuary Care. He also noted that the Kenton Seagull Regatta had raised R1.6 million for charity.
Eight special awards were made for various contributions to the Kenton community. These were the Love where you Live Green Award (Bushmans Recycling); Community Service (Ferenc Toth, outgoing chairperson of the Camera Fund); The Gees Award ( Leon Grobler and Chrissie Pohl of The Daily Shop); The Spirit of Kenton Award (Tove and Claude Renaud and their African Legacy organisation for their rare Alexandria Cycad Garden project); The Barefoot Lens Award ( Brian Hendry, who documents – beautifully – his daily walks with his dog, Fiddle, on social media); the Franchise Award (Miki Brakfesi of Miki’s Grind); The New Kids on the Block Award (The Wellness Festival); and The Golden Cork Award (Great Kenton Wine Festival).
Guest speaker Ron Mackenzie, of Small Town South Africa fame, spoke of the value of local tourism. “Every small town has a role to play in flying the flag,” he said.
HEART OF GREEN: Akhona ‘Kellis’ Gqupu (right) receives the Love where you Live Green Award on behalf of Bushmans Recycling from Kenton & Boesmans Chamber of Business and Tourism chairperson Justiin Wilmot. This was one of eight special awards made at the organisation’s AGM on September 11. Pictures: JO WILMOT
SAFETY: Ferenc Toth, outgoing chairperson of the Camera Fund, receives the Community Service Award from Kenton & Boesmans Chamber of Business and Tourism chairperson Justiin Wilmot. In his citation, Wilmot said, ‘We all know that our low crime rate is one of the attractions to our part of the world.’
LEGACY: The Spirit of Kenton Award went to Tove and Claude Renaud and their African Legacy organisation, whose mission is to recharge landscapes by clearing the unnatural and restoring the indigenous, ‘rekindling nature’s blueprint’. The award was for their rare Alexandria Cycad Garden project.
DEDICATION: The Barefoot Lens Award went to Brian Hendry, whose daily walks with his dog, Fiddle, are documented on social media ‘where he reminds everyone why this is such a special place’.
Miki Brakfesi receives the Franchise Award for Miki’s Grind, in recognition of opening coffee outlets in Kenton and Port Alfred, as well as a mobile unit for events.
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, September 18, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays
