The National Arts Festival returns to Makhanda, Eastern Cape, for its 50th anniversary from 20-30 June 2024. (Supplied/National Arts Festival)
- The National Arts Festival returns to Makhanda, Eastern Cape, for its 50th anniversary from 20 to 30 June 2024.
- The curated programme features art exhibitions, music shows, theatre performances, comedy and more.
- The festival experienced some financial trouble after the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) declined to provide funding.
The National Arts Festival returns to Makhanda, Eastern Cape, for its 50th anniversary from 20 to 30 June 2024, featuring art exhibitions, music shows, theatre performances, comedy and more on the curated programme.
The event also has an uncurated section known as the Fringe.
The winter festival is made possible through the Eastern Cape Government, Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and Standard Bank.
Though most of the programme is dedicated to South African works, it also has slots for works from other parts of Africa and the rest of the world.
The festival offers almost 300 works and events featuring prominent names like Zoë Modiga, Darren English, MoMo Matsunyane, Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse, Sello Maake KaNcube, Napo Masheane and many more.
Booking for shows can be made on the National Arts Festival website.
“It’s an honour to be staging this festival fifty years after its first curtain was raised. Despite an always changeable, and often precarious, environment for the arts, the National Arts Festival has prevailed and evolved,” said Monica Newton, National Arts Festival CEO, in a statement.
“This is a testament to those who have steered the ship and our steadfast partners over the decades, but also reflects the extraordinary tenacity artists have brought to this festival and country,” Newton said.
“2024 is a significant year for our country in so many ways, and the National Arts Festival is pleased to be part of the celebrations of our 30 years of democracy, and to be contemplating what the next decade holds for us and the community we serve,” she continued.
“To encompass all that the festival could and has ever been in a landmark year such as this is an overwhelming task and belies the festival’s role in breaking out new work and reimagining older ones,” said artistic director Rucera Seethal, in a statement.
“So in creating this programme, we have played with the juxtaposition of old and new and the emergence of ambitious ideas that bring the festival into a new era of cross-border and international collaboration,” Seethal said.
READ | National Arts Festival faces financial fiasco weeks before 50th anniversary as NLC cuts funding
The festival has had some financial trouble after the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) declined to provide funding for the festival, according to Ground Up. The festival did not receive NCL funding last year, either.
“Since 2003, the NLC has provided more than R86 million to the National Arts Festival,” Ground Up reported.
“Despite the lack of NLC funding, Newton said the festival was ‘working with all partners to ensure a successful festival, despite various operational constraints’,” according to the publication.
Compiled by Joel Ontong
www.news24.com
