“The warmest place to be”, is calling our name! For the second year running, Proudly South African will head to Sunny Durban for the annual Hollywoodbets Durban July as part of its drive to showcase the ripple economic benefits of this premier Horse Racing and lifestyle event to the economy of eThekwini and encourage the thousands of revellers who will be dressed to the nines to support local fashion designers.
Africa’s Greatest Horse Racing and Social Event will take place at the Hollywoodbets Greyville Racecourse on the 5 th of July 2025 and expectations are that the 129 th edition of the Hollywoodbets Durban July will be bigger and better. Last year, more than 40 000 people attended the event which gave a significant boost to the city’s hospitality sector including hotels, restaurants, BnBs, and businesses that directly or indirectly benefit from the influx of visitors during this period.
According to Durban Tourism, last year’s event contributed R717 million to the eThekwini GDP. The hosting of parallel events ramped up the revenue created to more than R2.7
billion and R6.6 billion for eThekwini’s GDP. In total more than 11 000 jobs were created for these events.
The Hollywoodbets Durban July is a major tourist attraction in the calendar and shines a spotlight on the coastal city and all it has to offer. True to Proudly South African fashion, we’re saying Swenka Nge Local! Besides the races being the main attraction of the day, this prestigious event focuses on celebrating the creativity and innovation of our local fashion designers. And what would a day at the races be without the Proudly South African local fashion police on the hunt for unsuspecting fashion enthusiasts. Our home of local MC, will be asking the pertinent question of the day; “Are you wearing local?” Proudly SA CMO, Happy MaKhumalo Ngidi, will have the pleasure of joining the panel of judges in some of the race day fashion awards, where attendees will show us their interpretation of this year’s theme; “Marvels of Mzansi”. And to top it all off, one of the winners of the fashion awards will walk away with a whopping R 20 000 worth of local fashion from one of the local fashion police designers in partnership with Proudly South African.
As part of its activation for the much-anticipated event which gets bigger and bigger every year, Proudly South African will erect the home of local at the venue which is a temporary house structure that will be draped and furnished in old school adornments, and paraphernalia to evoke fond memories of the days gone by, as well as a very modern local look and feel to add that local is lekker vibe.
“We are excited to once again be partnering with Hollywoodbets to host this thrilling and exhilarating event this year. The Hollywoodbets Durban July is a salient feature in South Africa’s racing and lifestyle calendar that is renown by its audacious and bold fashion statements and captivating music and celebrations. eThekwini is the place to be in July and what better way to drive the message of localisation than in the ambient atmosphere of the event where the A-listers and the fashion-conscious revellers will be strutting their stuff on the red carpet. As the champions of the buy local campaign, the event also serves as a testament of how spending locally, on travel, tourism, accommodation, hairdressers and local designers can have a domino impact on the city of eThekwini and beyond across the hospitality value chain,” says Happy MaKhumalo Ngidi, Chief Marketing Officer at Proudly South African.
In line with its drive of encouraging consumers to support home-grown products and services, Proudly South African will have a local fashion police activation at the event where the esteemed judges will be out in full force to ascertain whether the fashionistas are donned by local designers.
Discover the Marvels of local at Hollywoodbets Durban July
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