One Week to National Arts Festival Lift-Off

Grahamstown readies for 30 June Festival start

The final countdown to the 42nd National Arts Festival (30 June-10 July 2016) has begun. With one week to go, Grahamstown is a hive of activity as the Festival’s extensive infrastructure comes to life. Artists and musicians are already arriving and pop-up businesses are beginning to bloom as the town prepares to squeeze in tens of thousands of visitors. 

The eleven-day Festival will see over 600 productions staged in a variety of theatres and inventive venues. A programme rich with theatre, dance, music, visual, performing and public art, comedy, cabaret, poetry, film, literature, debate and more will be presented in venues throughout the small Eastern Cape city.

Says National Arts Festival CEO, Tony Lankester, “The Festival’s diverse and exciting programme for 2016 is a textured and engaging representation of the country’s creative mood. Politics, identity, the quest for change and healing are very much at the forefront of this year’s works but there are, of course, many light and entertaining moments, so plenty for audiences to simply escape into.”

The Festival brings an important mid-winter economic boost (valued at around R 350 million) to the Eastern Cape region. Of course, the cultural value of the event is incalculable and the Festival is a highly visible creative networking space for the country’s established and emerging artists. Scouts from international festivals also make their rounds of the shows.

It is the last National Arts Festival for long-standing Artistic Director, Ismail Mahomed, who says that he is proud of this swan-song, “The works on the 2016 programme are relevant, interesting and sometimes heart-breaking. It’s a showcase for some of the extraordinary talent we have in South Africa right now and I urge Festival-goers to see as much as they possibly can.”

Hot ticket productions include The Firebird (produced by Janni Younge and choreographed by Jay Pather), the works – including a premiere of The Inconvenience of Wings - of featured artist Lara Foot, and the premiere of 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist for theatre, Jade Bowers’ Scorched.  Another 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist (for dance) Themba Mbuli, will also be staging his new work Sold! Visitors who leave it to the last minute to secure tickets for some of the international work on the theatre programme are likely to be disappointed, says Lankester. “These shows have short runs and, once they’re over, the chance to see them is gone,” he said. These ‘sleeper hits’ are difficult to second guess, but all eyes are on the Dutch productions Barrera and Watching; while the renowned Belfast-based Kabosh Theatre Company’s Those You Pass on the Street is likely to get rave reviews.

Some of the big drawcard shows have sold out – including Ringo Madlingozi, AKA and the ever-popular Gala Concert. “At this stage there are inevitably some shows that are full – but the beauty of the Festival is that there’s always something amazing on somewhere – either on the main programme or as part of the National Lottery Fringe,” Lankester said. While demand is expected to peak over the coming weekend (when the “post payday rush” is expected), music lovers can still secure seats for the 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist for jazz, Siya Makhuzeni, Simphiwe Dana, Prime Circle, Guy Buttery, the Muffinz and Chris Chameleon. On the comedy front, the Very Big Comedy Show is a gala event that pulls in a capacity crowd, while Alan Committie’s smash Love Factually is expected to sell out on his one-night-only performance in the Eastern Cape.

Spontaneous Festival fans can still plan a trip - with some accommodation available in the city as well as in the nearby surrounds. Arts and culture lovers who aren’t able to make it this year can tune in on the fun via the Festival’s social channels and by using the hashtag #NAF16:

Image used with this release is of Daneel van der Walt in Dani and the Lion - on the National Lottery Fringe Cabaret programme. 

Visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za for more information and to view the programme online.

SPONSORS

The National Arts Festival is grateful to: the National Lotteries Commission, the Department of Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape Provincial Government, M-Net and Standard Bank of South Africa.

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CONTACT

All media queries to:

Rabbit in a Hat Communications
Sascha Polkey
[email protected]
083 414 0552
021 300 0052

About National Arts Festival

The National Arts Festival is an important event on the South African cultural calendar and the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent.

The 2017 National Arts Festival runs for 11 days from 29 June - 9 July and is held in the small university city of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, 130 km from Port Elizabeth.

The Festival consists of a Main and Fringe programme both administered by the National Arts Festival Office. The full programme comprises drama, dance, physical theatre, comedy, opera, music, jazz, visual art exhibitions, film, student theatre, street theatre, lectures, craft fair, workshops, tours (of the city and surrounding historic places) and a children’s arts festival.

The event has always been open to all regardless of race, colour, sex or creed. As no censorship or artistic restraint has ever been imposed on works presented in Grahamstown, the Festival served as an important forum for political and protest theatre during the height of the apartheid era, and it still offers an opportunity for experimentation across the arts spectrum. Its significance as a forum for new ideas and an indicator of future trends in the arts cannot be underestimated.

The National Arts Festival is grateful to the Department of Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape Provincial Government, M-Net and Standard Bank of South Africa.

Contact

National Arts Festival PO Box 304 Grahamstown, Ec 6140 South Africa

+27 (0) 46 603 1103

[email protected]

www.nationalartsfestival.co.za