By Nangamso Mabindla
26 November 2004

THE festive season is here - and that means it's time for the East London beachfront to be at its inviting best.

And what better way to dress up the esplanade than to erect the ever-popular funfair at Eastern Beach?

Workers were busy offloading and installing equipment on Wednesday, setting up huge swinging boats, octopus, carousel and bumper cars - just in time for the influx of holidaymakers.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected in East London this festive season.

And, since the city does not have a permanent fun fair, Funland Project Manager, Pieter Preitorios, says the play area on the Eastern Beach is very popular - particularly on Christmas, Boxing and New Year's Days.

Preitorios is expecting the fair to be very busy on these three days, when local residents traditionally throng the beaches to party. "We're expecting a lot of people on those days. On New Year's Day Eastern Beach can have up to 400 000 people - we'll need to be on our toes," he says.

"Although we were satisfied with the number of people here last year, we are hoping for more people this year," he says.

However, Preitorios warned revelers not to use the fun fair while drunk and urged them to act responsibly. "We've had problems before with drunk people wanting to go on the rides. It's dangerous for people under the influence to use this equipment".

While the workers carried on setting up the rides, a few people stopped to watch. A funfair is always a welcome treat for both the young and the young at heart.