Wemmer Pan's musical fountains brought back to life

The handful of people who watched a successful test run of the new musical fountains at Wemmer Pan this week had tears in their eyes.

It has been 20 long years, but the City of Joburg, through City Parks, has forked out R7 million to bring the once-popular tourist attraction back to life.

Local councillor Bev Turk could not contain her excitement on Monday night as the council ran its second trial run in preparation for the official opening expected by the end of September.

"It has taken six years to get the project off the ground, and it is so exciting to see how beautiful they are, set against the city skyline," she said.

The programme this week started with the moving tune Chariots of Fire.

The multicoloured lights in the fountains danced to the music and followed the rhythm.

This was followed by the Johnny Clegg song Impi.

Turk added: "I must thank City Parks, which has been totally professional in the way it has handled this project.

"It took them 73 hours to choreograph three songs. Most of the equipment had to be imported from overseas."

Turk said the fountains would become a huge tourist attraction, as in the past, when at least 4 000 people would watch them each weekend.

The few onlookers who attended the show this week were clearly moved by the professionalism of it.

Tess Bester said she frequently used to take her children to the park, especially at Christmas-time.

"We used to love it," Bester added. "We would spend the day in the park with a picnic basket and stay until the evening when the fountains came on."

Just as well, then, that a special Christmas programme is being planned, with traditional carols being set to music.

And to really get into the spirit of Yuletide, Christmas lights will be placed around Pioneer Park to enhance the magic of the festive season.

The Star

Posted at 09:17AM Sep 02, 2010 by Editor in Cities and Towns  |  Comments[2]