Ficksburg

Ficksburg
Ficksburg from Imperani Mountain
Ficksburg Show map of Free State (South African province) Ficksburg Show map of South Africa Ficksburg Show map of Africa  Ficksburg shown within Free State
Coordinates: 28°52′25.3″S 27°52′41.2″E / 28.873694°S 27.878111°E / -28.873694; 27.878111Coordinates: 28°52′25.3″S 27°52′41.2″E / 28.873694°S 27.878111°E / -28.873694; 27.878111
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Thabo Mofutsanyane
Municipality	Setsoto
Established	1867
Area
• Total	58.2 km2 (22.5 sq mi)
Elevation	1,628 m (5,341 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	41,248
• Density	710/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	90.7%
• Coloured	1.9%
• Indian/Asian	1.6%
• White	5.6%
• Other	0.3%
First languages (2011)
• Sotho	86.1%
• Afrikaans	7.3%
• English	3.8%
• Other	2.8%
Postal code (street)	9730
PO box	9730
Area code	051

Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1750-metre-high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa. The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and plots that could be bought at a reasonable price. The town was later proclaimed a municipality in 1891. The last Governor-General of the Union of South Africa and the first State President of South Africa, Charles Robberts Swart was imprisoned here by the British in 1914 and released one day before his scheduled execution.

Ficksburg, after Bethlehem, South Africa (the chief administrative town) is the second busiest and important town in the Eastern Free State region of the Freestate province. It is an important agricultural region of the Free State where crops like corn and mealies (maize) and asparagus are grown. The most important part of the annual crop of Ficksburg is the harvesting of the cherries on the numerous cherry farms surrounding the town. The cherries are harvested from October to December. Annually in November the Cherry Festival is held. The festival stretches over 3 days and attracts up to 30,000 people. The festival presents family shows and activities like the herding of sheep, horse rides, camel rides, helicopter flips, steam train rides at Sandstone Estate, tours through town to see the sandstone building architecture which Ficksburg is also very well known for. There are also tours of the surrounding countryside, tours to the cherry and asparagus farms where people are shown everything about the industry, and airplane trips to the Katsedam in Lesotho.

The town also has a wide variety of guesthouses and B&Bs and an exclusive 3-star hotel serves as accommodation for tourists visiting the town. The hotel has a French-style restaurant which serves a wide variety of cuisine and has an a la carte menu. Ficksburg also has commercial food outlets, a KFC and a Wimpy and various restaurants or cafes to enjoy lunch or dinner at i.e. Die Blikantien, situated at Die Blikplek, a fascinating Ficksburg institution.

Ficksburg is known as 'The Gateway to the Mountain Kingdom Of Lesotho'.Lesotho is an enclaved country in the eastern part of South Africa. From Ficksburg you can depart to the Katse Dam in Lesotho. This dam is important to South Africa, because it annually provides hundreds of millions of litres of water to the industrial and commercial Gauteng Province. The dam is also a very scenic area and is situated 3000 m (9842 ft) high up in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho. The dam is very popular for boating and fishing and is visited by thousands of tourists to Lesotho every year which have to pass through Ficksburg.