A little Underberg girl whose family cannot afford the cost of her desperately needed medical procedure will likely be the first recipient of charitable deeds generated by this Easter weekend's 15th Annual Splashy Fen Music Festival.

Since its inception, Splashy Fen management has 'donated' the event's well- patronised Beer Tent to the local Sani 152 Round Table - with an impressive list of heart-warming results. Proceeds from the inaugural Splashy Fen 14 years ago helped the Round Table to fund the district's first cerebral palsy home - Pevensey Place. A care centre for palsy-afflicted rural youngsters - Ester Alm - has also been nurtured by annual funding care of 'Splashy Fenners' with a fondness for beer. Other yearly beneficiaries include regional schools - which receive the lion's share - plus the SPCA and Underberg Farmers Association.

'One-off' donations result from appeals by the local community or direct approach from an individual in need. These cut across all racial or social divides and are as far reaching as to include equipment for disadvantaged up-and-coming sports stars, self-employment projects for rural women and a 'helping hand' for families overtaken by sudden misfortune.

Thanks in no small part to Splashy Fen's annual revelry, Sani 152 is among the Round Table's top fund-raisers, with last year's festival adding more than R170 000 to its coffers. Few are as appreciative of this guaranteed 'bonus' as 2004 Chairman Pierre Horn, who acknowledges that "without the good graces of Splashy Fen, Sani 152's achievements would pale somewhat into insignificance".

The Round Table 'gives back' to Splashy Fen management some 12% of its Beer Tent profits each year, and as a result of this - plus a Ticket Sales percentage - the festival has itself injected some R100 000 into Southern Drakensberg communities during the course of its 14-year existence. This money has funded self-help programmes and farm schools, along with construction of an outdoors Wildlife Education Centre. Owner of the farm 'Splashy Fen' and Festival Director, Peter Ferraz, says that although potentially lucrative approaches from large corporate interests to run the Beer Tent are plentiful "it has always been, and will remain, our declared principle to keep the community interest foremost".

All signs point to the extra activities of Splashy Fen 2004 attracting a record number of festival-goers, and while beer lovers seldom need an excuse to indulge, the list of particularly benevolent 'after-effects' surely provides a compelling one.