Projects of the National Arts Festival
The National Arts Festival is produced by the National Arts Festival company, which also produces a host of festivals, events and programmes throughout the year. These projects include:
Founded in 1974, the National Arts Festival was the founding project of the National Arts Festival company. The establishment of the Festival was directly linked to the formation of the 1820 Settler’s Monument, a project of the Grahamstown Foundation, which was purpose-built to stage an annual festival. Today the National Arts Festival is produced in Makhanda by a multi-skilled, permanent team, as well as freelance technical and service providers and temporary employees. The National Arts Festival is also the custodian of the Grahamstown Foundation, a project that continues to uphold and maintain the The Monument building while also managing a number of programmes and projects.
The National Arts Festival is South Africa’s oldest, most diverse and widely known arts festivals attracting thousands of visitors annually when it stages over 300 productions in eleven days.
A project of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, the Mandela Bay Arts Festival is curated and produced by the National Arts Festival. A festival that provides a platform for the local artists of the Nelson Mandela Bay area, this is a celebration of neighbourhood and community and a showcase for the talent of the region. The National Arts Festival produced this festival in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
The Standard Bank Young Artist Awards are a prestigious South African awards programme that recognises and rewards young artists, typically under 35, for their exceptional talent across various disciplines like dance, jazz, theatre and visual arts. Established by the National Arts Festival in 1981, and sponsored by Standard Bank since 1984, the awards provide recipients with national exposure, a cash prize and funding to create and showcase new work at the festival.
The National Playwright Competition is a script writing competition that discovers and develops new South African playwrights. The competition encourages debut South African playwrights over 18 years of age to submit scripts in any of the country’s languages, providing finalists with mentorship to complete their scripts and prize money. The winning script is produced at the National Arts Festival. Winning playwrights include Koleka Putuma (2019), Amy Louise Wilson (2020), Sibongakonke Mama (2022) and Campbell Meas (2025).
Masicule— “let’s sing” — is an annual mass-choir concert held in Makhanda featuring the most democratic of all instruments – the voice. Since its inception in 2014, the event has grown into one of the city’s most cherished cultural gatherings, uniting between 500 and 1000 voices from the region’s schools, community choirs and tertiary institutions.
The concert is staged in the Guy Butler Theatre in the Monument Building. Each year, a celebrated South African guest artist—such as Vusi Mahlasela, Sibongile Mngoma, Dumza Maswana, or Zoe Modiga—joins the choirs, adding a professional dimension that inspires young performers and delights audiences.
Masicule is more than a concert; it is a community-building initiative that demonstrates the unifying power of music. By offering the same stage to both privileged and less privileged schools, it breaks down social divides and fosters a sense of shared pride. With the support of local partners, ticket proceeds often contribute to bursaries and opportunities for young musicians to pursue formal musical education.
Founded in 2024, the Festival Enterprise Catalyst (FEC) is a groundbreaking project that sees a group of festivals and arts organisations work in collaboration to create sustained jobs and revenue inflow from touring. In partnership with The Jobs Fund, the participating partners are Aardklop Kunstefees, Concerts SA, Klein Karoo Kunstefees, National Arts Festival, SAMRO, Suidoosterfees and Woordfees.
Makhanda has one of the highest unemployment rates in South Africa with few opportunities to gain either employment or skills. As an active citizen of the city, the National Arts Festival is the project coordinator for the Social Employment Fund, a project of The Jobs Fund and the Presidential Employment Stimulus Project. The SEF programme marries the need for supplemental municipal capacity with a pipeline to temporary employment for many unemployed people. To date the SEF in Makhanda has provided temporary employment for 3600 people and led to recycling projects, infrastructure upgrades, vegetable gardens and repairs to schools. A new round of SEF projects commenced in October 2025.
The South African National English Olympiad is a prestigious annual competition that challenges and cultivates young writers and critical thinkers across the country. Established in 1976 for high school learners in Grades 9 to 12, it consistently draws thousands of entries nationally.
A joint venture of the National Arts Festival and the South African Council for English Education (SACEE), the Olympiad’s core mission is to enrich and deepen candidates’ appreciation of English language and literature, pushing them to explore texts and ideas well beyond the scope of the standard school curriculum.
The syllabus is centered on a specially compiled, themed anthology of literary texts distributed to participating schools annually. Participants then write a rigorous three-hour, open-book examination. The paper requires two extended, critical responses: an analytical essay and a creative writing piece, both engaging with the prescribed texts. Separate examination papers are provided for English Home Language (HL) and First Additional Language (FAL) candidates.
Top achievers are honoured at a prize-giving ceremony held in Makhanda during the annual National Arts Festival. Prizes often include significant cash awards and valuable university tuition scholarships, firmly establishing the Olympiad as a marker of academic excellence and supporting future scholastic progression.
The Schools Festival Programme brings young audiences closer to the magic of the National Arts Festival, offering curated performances, workshops and creative experiences. Held annually in Makhanda, this intensive programme brings groups of Grade 11 and 12 students and their teachers together for an immersive experience in the creative economy.
Its primary objective of the School’s Festival programme is to broaden the Arts curriculum, offering participants an intense, non-threatening, and highly collaborative environment to explore creativity, develop self-esteem, and engage with professional theatre, dance, and visual art.
The core of the project is its jam-packed programme, which includes a selection of the best professional productions from the National Arts Festival. Participants rotate through a wide variety of interactive workshops covering disciplines such as physical theatre, music creation, creative writing, film studies, visual literacy, and improvisation. These sessions are designed to provide delegates with hands-on, practical learning experiences.
The Festival serves as a vital meeting point for students from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds, promoting communication and empathy through shared creative endeavor. By encouraging interaction with challenging art forms and professionals, the Schools Festival programme empowers young South Africans to discover their creative potential and confidently engage with the arts industry.
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