National Arts Festival
| National Arts Festival | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Arts Festival |
| Dates | June/July annually |
| Location(s) | Grahamstown |
| Years active | 41 |
| Founded | 13 July 1973 |
| Attendance | 241,116 |
| Patron(s) | Standard Bank, MNET, National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, City Press, Eastern Cape Government |
| Website | |
| National Arts Festival | |
The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an important event on the South African cultural calendar, and the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent.
Starting at the end of June/beginning of July, it runs for 11 days and is held in the small university city of Grahamstown, which is situated in the Eastern Cape, 130 km from Port Elizabeth.
The NAF consists of a main and fringe programme both administered by the National Arts Festival Office. The NAF is reliant on sponsorship with the core sponsors being the Eastern Cape Government, Standard Bank of South Africa, National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, National Arts Council, Transnet, City Press newspaper and MNet
The 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 NAF 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.
Grahamstown has been associated with carnivals and festivals for more than 180 years as British immigrants established the tradition of celebrating landmark anniversaries on a grand scale. When a movement gained ground last century to erect a memorial to these pioneers it was agreed that it should be a "living" monument presenting festivals, conferences and other gatherings.
An Inaugural Festival was held in 1974 when the 1820 Settlers National Monument was officially opened, with the exception of 1975, a festival has been organised every year since then. The NAF was a project of the Grahamstown Foundation for 28 years and in 2002 became a Section 21 Company with an independent board of directors. It however still operates out of the 1820 Settlers National Monument where it rents office space and the performance facilities.
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Wikipedia