The Fill Up Toyota Stadium concert has once again proven that large-scale live entertainment events are powerful catalysts for economic growth, job creation, and business development within the Free State.
The event generated a total of 1 557 employment opportunities, including 8 permanent positions within the organising team and 1 495 temporary jobs created over the duration of the project. These roles spanned critical operational areas such as event production, technical services, security, cleaning, catering, bar services, logistics, marketing, and crowd management.
In line with inclusive economic participation, employment reflected strong demographic representation:Women: 450, Men: 936, Youth: 1 150, Interns: 53, Persons with Disabilities: 1.
This underscores the event’s meaningful contribution to youth employment, skills transfer, and workforce inclusion.
The concert further supported business development through the procurement of services from 31 service providers, covering sound and stage production, lighting, infrastructure, transport, accommodation, catering, branding, medical services, and overall event operations. Priority was placed on local and regional suppliers, strengthening SMMEs and ensuring economic value remained within the province.
An estimated 30 500 audience members attended Fill Up Toyota Stadium, driving a significant influx of visitors into Bloemfontein. This resulted in increased demand across accommodation, transport, food services, and retail sectors, delivering a direct boost to the local economy.
On-site commercial performance was particularly strong, with bar operations recording high sales volumes across beverage categories: Beer (500ml): 9 761 units, Cider (500ml): 8 326 units,RTDs (500ml): 5 390 units, Energy Drinks (500ml): 1 781 units, Soft Drinks (330ml): 5 743 units, Water (500ml): 17 028 units, Shooters (50ml): 3 000 units (sold out), Spirits (750ml): 016 units, Champagne (750ml): 279 units, MCC (750ml): 96 units
These figures reflect strong consumer demand and supported additional employment for bar staff, logistics teams, and beverage suppliers, while contributing to the overall sustainability of the event.
Beyond entertainment, Fill Up Toyota Stadium continues to stand as a high-impact cultural and economic initiative, demonstrating how major live events can meaningfully drive job creation, supplier development, youth empowerment, and tourism growth, while positioning the Free State as a credible host of world-class live productions.
Important Note on Reported Figures
The impact figures reflected in this report represent on-event and core project activity only and exclude additional economic contributions generated during the Fill Up Toyota Stadium build-up period. These figures do not include: Sales and economic activity from pre-event activations across nightclubs, universities, malls, taxi ranks, and other promotional touch points. Temporary staff and promoters employed specifically for these activations.DJs, performers, and additional talent booked for pre-event and ancillary activations. Accommodation, ground transport, food, and retail spend generated across Bloemfontein during the concert weekend.
