The inaugural Festival celebrated the official opening and dedication of the 1820 Settlers Monument Building. Operating as a living monument to the cultural heritage of all South Africans, the building contains numerous venues, from a spectacular 1000 seater auditorium to small meeting rooms, including a fully functional kitchen, banqueting area, bar and coffee shop. The Monument is the centre of operations for the National Arts Festival, the Grahamstown Foundation, SciFest Africa, the National Schools Festival, the English Olympiad, and many more! During the National Arts Festival, it is one of the main hubs of activity. In 1974, the Festival ran…Read More

1976’s festival was officially called the Shakespeare Festival. As the name suggests, the programme was focused on fostering an appreciation and enjoyment of Shakespearean drama, and included performances and films of an incredible variety of his works, from Richard III, Macbeth and Othello to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet and Love’s Labours Lost.  But it wasn’t just the classics on offer. Dawn Lindberg returned to our stages with The Shrew – a reimagining of The Taming of the Shrew, written by Charles Marowitz. Two plays authored by Pieter Dirk-Uys – already a formidable talent, though not yet a…Read More

Anti-apartheid activist and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Biko, died in police detention. His death led to increased international pressure and sanctions against the apartheid regime.

This time called the Five Roses Festival of the Arts after a new sponsorship, the 1979 Festival was produced in collaboration with the then-named Department of National Education. The effect of this collaboration is self-evident in the programme for this year which, in addition to what had become the regular offering of gala concerts, orchestras, and films, emphasized another strong Student Festival and a prominent series of Winter Schools.  Then, as now, student theatre was often daring, experimental, and prone to pushing the boundaries of traditional modes of theatre practice. The printed programme for this year contained a fascinating disclaimer:…Read More

The Festival headed into the 80’s with an increasingly strengthened sense of identity and purpose. For the first time called the ‘National’ Festival of the Arts, the importance and scale of the work done annually in Makhanda was beginning to solidify in the artistic community. Mr DM Hopkins, then Chairman of the Festivals Committee, expressed some of this vision in his foreword to this year’s programme: “To enrich the educational and cultural development of the peoples of South Africa” is the objective adopted this year by the 1820 Foundation as its aim for the eighties. Proud objectives need to be…Read More