Ficksburg was proclaimed a Town on the 16th June 1867 and a Magisterial District in 189, named after Boer General, General Fick.
It is is a small town situated at the foot of the 1,854m Imperani Mountain. It is located in an important agricultural region of the Free State where crops like corn and mealies (maize) are grown.
Ficksburg is also known as the Cherry Town and celebrates the Ficksburg Cherry Festival yearly during November. The festival is the oldest crop festival in South Africa and stretches over three days, attracting about 30 000 people.
The festival presents quality family shows and activities like the herding of sheep, horse rides, camel rides, helicopter flips, and steam train rides at Sandstone Estate. There are also tours of the surrounding countryside, tours to the cherry and asparagus farms where guests can be shown everything about the industry and airplane trips to the Katsedam in Lesotho.
Other highlights at the festival include a golf classic, a half marathon, cherry product competition, veteran vehicle displays, beer fests and live performances by well-known South African artists.
Ficksburg is also very well known for its sandstone building architecture.
Hiking into the mountains surrounding the town are very popular - where you can see San rock art and various species of indigenous plants and animals. Numerous adventure and B&B guest farms surround the countryside where you can stay when you visit Ficksburg.
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 travel to the Katse Dam in Lesotho - situated in a scenic area about 3000m (9842ft) above sea level in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho. The dam is very popular for boating and fishing.
The region is also known as the asparagus region of South Africa. Hundreds of tons of asparagus are harvested from September. Other crops include peaches, apricots and apples.
Ficksburg is the capital of the Setsotho Municipal county which includes the towns of Clocolan, Marquard and Senekal. The town has a community radio station a repeater for Radio France International (RFI), because of the multitude of French missionaries in the neighbournig country of Lesotho.
