Ficksburg is a town 210 km east of Bloemfontein, situated at the foot of the 450m high, beautiful Imperani Mountain in the Free State province of South Africa. The town was established near the Caledon River on the farms Losberg, Rondedraai, Generaalsvlei and Sekonyellasberg by General Johan Fick who conquered the territory during the Basotho Wars of 1867. 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, is the second busiest and important town in the Eastern Free State. It is a fertile agricultural region where crops like corn, mealies, asparagus and more importantly, cherries are grown. Ficksburg is now probably most famous for its annual Cherry Festival in November that attracts visitors by their thousands. It is known as 'The Gateway to the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho'. (a land-locked country in the eastern part of South Africa.) From Ficksburg visitors can visit the Katse Dam, presently the biggest dam in Lesotho.