1980 was perhaps the first time that the then-named Five Roses Festival of the Arts had a programme that so closely resembled the structure of the National Arts Festival today. The curated programme was filled with Classical Music, Jazz, Opera, Fine Arts Theatre, and Film, and with artists who have continued to make regular appearances on our stages to the present day. Waiting for Godot, to name but one example, played at the Rhodes University Theatre, with a phenomenal cast that included the likes of John Kani, Winston Ntshona and Pieter-Dirk Uys. Jazzart, South Africa’s oldest dance company, made their first of many visits to the Festival, with a performance that also marked the first time they had ever performed off of their home soil in Cape Town.

Also making an iconic appearance in this year was the emergence of a very distinct Fringe programme. Whilst it was not the first time Fringe work had been presented at the Festival, the Fringe programme of 1980 contained the first hints of the strength and scale to which the Fringe would begin to aspire. A strong and varied programme in its own right, it included an exhibition of handmade crafts by local Xhosa women called The Makana Handicrafts Festival Exhibition, and performances by Izinkonjane (The Swallows). 

Present day audiences looking back through the programme would also be treated to a delightful throwback to pre-digital days – a tear-off slip at the back of the programme, which could be filled out and posted back to the Festival Office, to join our very first mailing list!