Photo by NationalArtsFestival (@artsfestival) | Twitter
The annual National Arts Festival, the largest arts festival on the continent, has gone virtual, kicking off on Thursday 25 June. The festival will be held entirely online for 11 days and will run until 5 July 2020.
Held for the past 46 years in the Eastern Cape town of Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), the Festival has ranked as one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world for visitor numbers. With this year’s virtual event, the organisers hope to deliver the usual amazing celebration of the South African arts but this time, into every home across the country.
The festival is a yearly celebration of South Africa’s rich and diverse cultures and the wealth of homegrown talents born out of our country. All creatives, from artists and poets to stand up comedians and designers, can get the opportunity to showcase their creativity. Now, their reach can go even further.
If you’re an avid yearly attendee or have never been able to visit, now’s your chance to experience the country’s greatest artistic talents from the comfort of your home. Expect the usual jam-packed daily programme, showcases of artists and exhibitions, webinars and workshops.
There is even a “virtual Green.” Visitors to the Fest in years gone by will fondly recall hours spent tramping around the Green, coffee in hand to ward off the winter chill. The Green is the festival’s craft fair that usually showcases around 300 of the area’s most skilled craftspeople and creatives. Now, website visitors can browse each virtual “stall” and contact the owner for questions or purchase items. Browse a selection of exquisitely crafted clothing, textiles, earrings, home decor, toys and more.
The Standard Bank Jazz Festival is for many, one of the festival’s highlights. For 33 years, the Jazz Festival has been wowing audiences with its showcase of exceptional South African jazz culture. The programme features mainly local musicians, many of which are remarkably young. This year’s reimagined festival will be showcasing an edited version of the originally planned event, based around artists able to record under the COVID-19 regulations. It’s sure to be an event you will not soon forget.
Each year, the festival pays homage to a renowned local artist. 2020’s Featured artist is musician, composer and storyteller, Madosini Latozi Mpahleni, better known as Madosini. She is doing the important work of keeping alive the oral Xhosa musical tradition that may otherwise have faded from memory. Festival participants can enjoy 11 episodes of Madosini performing in a variety of settings.
Photo by Facebook National Arts Festival Photos
The website details how to buy tickets and passes for shows and performances and how to participate in the free webinars. There are a variety of passes available from all-access festival passes to day passes or simply purchase a ticket for a single show. The exhibitions and webinars are all free of charge – simply view them on the day they become available.
Don’t “leave” the virtual festival without:
- Browsing vFringe art
- Catching a show
- Browse for handcrafted goods on the Virtual Green
- Check out Creativate’s Digital Arts Festival – learn in digital art workshops and marvel at boundary-breaking digital performances
- Check out the incredible up and coming talent in the Standard Bank Young Artists Award
The Festival usually attracts a large number of local visitors as well as those from further afield and is one of the most significant contributors to the local economy.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to still support the festival and South Africa’s most talented creatives.
Find all details on the National Arts Festival website and follow on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.