What to expect at the Fibo SA fitness festival

One of the biggest things at the very first Fibo Global Fitness Africa festival is meeting Hafþór Júlíus “Thor” Björnsson, better known as The Mountain to Game of Thrones fans, and also the world’s strongest man.

Bodybuilder giants will gather at the Ticketpro Dome later this month for the first IFBB Professional League Regional contest on the continent – on top of the featured events on the weekend.

But Fibo’s journey to SA is interesting. “It’s an international brand we’re bringing from Germany, which attract 150 000 visitors over days in Europe,” says Martin Hiller from Reed Exhibitions and general manager for Fibo SA.

It allows various people to take part in the world of health and wealth, but there’s a business aspect as well – something that attracted Reed Exhibitions to bring Fibo to Africa.

“There’s a conference on the business side that is running on October 25 and 26. It’s about providing useful information for all the attendees where you can start putting all you’ve learned there straight into a business.

The world’s strongest man Thor Björnsson. Picture: EPA

“We’ve got four international speakers and six local speakers,” says Hiller.

Discussions include how gyms can retain their staff, get new members, as well as how to market themselves, with practical case studies featuring how people made it in the industry.

“It’s really about showcasing the variety of different forms of fitness where everyone can find a fit,” he adds.

Roadrunners and other competitors will also get a chance to get involved in the festival. From October 26 to 28 October there will be collection points for donations of old race medals for the Oliver Tambo Memorial hospital in Johannesburg and the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.

These medals are handed out to the children that are patients after procedures or surgery. There will be a medal tree at the entrance of the festival to hang yours.

Hiller is excited about the first IFBB regional contest. “Previously athletes needed to go through a local amateur competition and would then apply to an international amateur federation to take part in IFBB competitions,” says Garron Whithead, who licensed the competition in South Africa with his wife, Candice.

The new competition adds a streamlined approach for local bodybuilders and fitness models to get international traction with less bureaucracy. The IFBB Professional League has licensed Muscle Mulisha GrandPrix as part of their worldwide expansion of the Pro League to allow for more opportunities for the athletes whose dream it is to compete at the Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness and Performance Weekend.

Kids and adults will be able to join the Bounce tribe at the festival. Picture: iStock

The contest requires qualification for the eight respective divisions.

There will be specialised stations, from training to tanning to areas where competitors can see what is happening on stage via live streaming.

But there’s also an important message to get kids active, according to Hiller. Fibo has created the FitKids Zone, powered by Fizique. This zone will focus on starting kids’ fitness and aims to uncover future fitness stars.

The Zone will be open daily over the festival for kids aged between four and 12 years. There will be an obstacle course for the youngsters and their friends to have a blast crawling, hopping, running, skipping and jumping to hone in on their motor skills.

Fizique will also be teaming up with Bounce to run various classes for kids.

For more information visit Fibo Global Fitness South Africa.

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