Winners Of Standard Bank Ovations Awards 2023. Image sourced by Standard Bank Arts Twitter Page. 23 June 2023: Standard Bank Ovation Awards were awarded daily throughout the Festival: 23 June 2023 On the Flip Side Can of Worms SA The energetic musical ensemble Can of Worms SA, performed breathtaking hits written and composed by them... Read More
Makhanda may seem tiny, but walking from one venue to another between shows can be tricky with so much to see. With the assistance of Standard Bank and Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism, the National Arts Festival provides transportation to various locations across the Festival - and they’re absolutely free. Hoppers are easily accessible from... Read More
Coffee Bay, Eastern Cape Are you planning on coming to NAF 2023? Make a winter holiday out of it and explore the Eastern Cape. From endless wild landscapes dotted with scenic aloes to spectacular sunsets, friendly people and diverse cultural experiences, you might just lose yourself. Regular Festival-goer’s know that an Eastern Cape winter serves... Read More
Are you planning on coming to NAF 2023? Make a winter holiday out of it and explore the Eastern Cape. From endless wild landscapes dotted with scenic aloes to spectacular sunsets, friendly people and diverse cultural experiences, you might just lose yourself. Regular Festival-goer’s know that an Eastern Cape winter serves up some beautiful, warm... Read More
NOTE TO MEDIA: Media accreditation for the National Arts Festival is now open, please visit https://nationalartsfestival.formstack.com/forms/media to make your application The National Arts Festival has announced its 2023 programme which is now live on www.nationalartsfestival.co.za and open for online bookings. Makhanda’s annual celebration of the arts will be taking place from 22 June-2 July 2023... Read More
Performers at the National Arts Festival's 2022 opening - image Mark Wessels The mood was upbeat in Makhanda on Thursday as the 48th National Arts Festival opened it's first live event in three years with the news that the requirements on the wearing of masks and restricting events to 50% capacity COVID regulations were removed... Read More
The Eastern Cape town of Makhanda is dusting off the disappointment of two years without its annual flagship event, the live National Arts Festival, as it prepares to welcome back visitors for the cultural feast from 23 June - 3 July. The mood is one of excitement, but also anticipation, as the Festival enters a... Read More
Please be aware that Rhodes University has a vaccine mandate, and ticket holders for shows happening at any of their spaces on campus will need to show either a vaccine certificate, a negative rapid test no more than 72 hours old, or a certificate that states you have had COVID-19 in the last three months.... Read More
The five, all female Distell National Playwright Competition finalists for 2022, come from a variety of backgrounds. They include actors, journalists, and activists. One finalist is also a clown, who uses theatre to make sense of the human heart and its response to gender, identity, power, politics, the past, love, intrigue, and the mysteries of... Read More
2021 Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz, Vuma Levin, will perform two shows at the National Jazz Festival Makhanda The National Jazz Festival Makhanda once again unites jazz musicians from across the country and the world at SA’s definitive jazz gathering, live at the National Arts Festival. Jazz has always been an essential part of... Read More
The National Arts Festival has announced exciting new additions to its 2022 programme with one night only concerts from Amanda Black, Ringo Madlingozi and Bongeziwe Mabandla. The programme, already a feast of theatre, dance, music, jazz, visual art, comedy and more, is now live and open for booking at www.nationalartsfestival.co.za. The countdown to the NAF’s return to live stages and... Read More
There is no printed programme for the Festival this year. This means that all information about the programme can now be found on our website, which we’ve made easier to navigate. Explore the Shows and Exhibitions 1. Click the category that most interests you on the blue menu bar (above) to view the shows. Each... Read More
A scene from Hamlet by Janni Younge - image by Bronwyn Lloyd Stories of turbulence, healing and triumph thread through this year's programme as the National Arts Festival returns to Makhanda in a live festival format from 23 June – 3 July 2022. “There's a pull towards stories from history, and explorations of other ways... Read More
Hullo, Buy-Bye, Koko, Come In from Koleka Putuma. Image by Sara CF de Gouveia It’ll be the ultimate celebratory homecoming for audiences and the arts community when the National Arts Festival resumes its live format with an immersive in-person arts experience in 2022. Staged from 23 June-3 July in Makhanda, the Festival will re-emerge with... Read More
Residents and visitors to Gqeberha and surrounds can expect a cultural boost during Heritage Month 2022. The National Arts Festival, in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, has announced that it will be staging the inaugural Mandela Bay Arts Festival from 23 September – 1 October 2022, featuring an array of artists from the... Read More
After two years of hosting the National Arts Festival online, the organisation has announced that it's returning to live format for 2022. This year’s National Arts Festival is happening in its home town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape from 23 June-3 July and a call has gone out to artists to register their works... Read More
2021 is finally drawing to a close and we hope that you are looking forward to some rest and recuperation. Yet again, this year was nothing like we'd planned, but it all worked rather well regardless! It was another rollercoaster ride, in which we almost staged our first hybrid National Arts Festival Experience but with ten... Read More
The organisers of the Distell National Playwright competition are once again calling for entries by South African scriptwriters of 18 and older. They are accepting entries of previously unpublished or commercially unproduced work in any of the country’s official languages from now until 28 February 2022. The announcement comes after the earlier postponement of the... Read More
Born of a conversation between two women on a film set, One Take Grace reflects on a life and a country. It will be available to watch for a short window on the National Arts Festival website from 6pm on 29 October – 4 November 2021. One Take Grace is a creative documentary by Motherbox... Read More
Well known for its annual arts festival, outside of that spotlight, Makhanda is a city with many stories and a wellspring of creativity and talent. The Makhanda Project is an online group exhibit of six filmed and recorded works that form a narrative about the people and creativity of Makhanda. The artists and creatives who... Read More
The National Arts Festival (NAF) and the National Arts Council (NAC) have reached an agreement on the terms of payment for the outstanding funds and costs in their legal dispute, bringing an end to the contestation over the NAC’s attempt to unilaterally amend the terms of the grant contract awarded as part of the Presidential... Read More
The arts have always been a force for social change particularly in South Africa where, under apartheid, it was artists who created struggle theatre and delivered messages so subtle in their complexity that they stumped the culturally obtuse apartheid police, or so loud that artists were arrested and theatres closed. Since the demise of apartheid,... Read More
2021 Silver Standard Bank Ovation Award winner Is'Thata Dance with Initiation. Photo by Mark Wessels. The 47th National Arts Festival took place against a back-drop of turmoil. Planned as a hybrid event, the Makhanda-based Festival looked forward to reuniting with a small dedicated audience and community of artists for a live festival; but it was not... Read More
Mommy Mommy. NAF 2021. Photo by Mark Wessels Let My Love be Heard. NAF 2021. Photo by Mark Wessels. The National Arts Festival officially winds up at midnight today after a month-long digital feast of the arts that saw dance, music, performance, visual art, jazz, comedy, children’s theatre, illusion, discussion and more on its digital... Read More
Left to right: Ipeleng-Merafe, Lulu Mlangeni, Khaya Ndlovu Lulu Mlangeni's flight of freedom Is there anything more laughable than knowing you are meant for flight and have conceded your own light? It is absurd. In a world of intersecting oppressions, it is absurd when we grow to believe that our purpose is to tuck in... Read More
Wondering how to book our video on demand shows on our online festival? We've created a handy guide! Our hybrid festival is divided into a number of different sections. Video on Demand allows you to book shows and watch them in your own time - whenever and wherever you like! Most of the Standard Bank... Read More
Wondering how to book for the live shows on our online festival? We've created a handy guide! For a view of our full livestream programme and bookings, go here. Step 1 via GIPHY Go to our website’s homepage, scroll down and click "Live Stream Schedule" which will bring you to a calendar view of our... Read More
DE|COMPOSITION In DE|COMPOSITION, artist, political ecologist, geographer, and environmental scientist Linzi Lewis puts forward the notion that “Life is a fragile and uncertain celebration.” Death is certain and integral to life, rebirth is intangible yet constant. Somewhere in between the two is where she locates her performance. Life and death in process A collaboration between musicians,... Read More
KGANYA (Light) Festival hadn’t even started and we had to chop and change, dodge and dice. Standard Bank Presents, the tasty live teaser, showed what could be done in Cape Town and Durban, but before it hit the straps in Jozi, Comrade Cyril had his say. Those folks on the hill, the National Arts Festival, always... Read More
Friday 25th June 2021. National Arts Festival 2021, Ndinxaniwe - Theatre Production. PICTURE: MARK WESSELS. Rainbow nation deceit exposed ‘Art as archeology, as excavation’ is the approach director/producer Qondiswa James uses in devising this story through its iterations, ‘rewriting the archive, we tell our own story’. Ndinxaniwe is a radical, tragic story that recognizes the fuckery of... Read More
David Bester performs with the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Bookings are now open for the 2021 National Arts Festival's Makhanda Live curated programme which will be staged live in the Festival's home town of Makhanda from 8-18 July. All tickets can be bought on the Festival’s website It’s been an exceptionally challenging 18 months for the arts but... Read More
Lyrical finesse, immaculate instrumentals, unapologetically Kaaps It’s a tricky time for the music scene right now, so having Quintin ‘Jitsvinger’ Goliath and his trio Restorians on the Standard Bank Jazz lineup is a privilege. The audience is all responsibly masked up (both mouth and nose) in Long Street’s Gallery 44. It’s an intimate venue, close enough to... Read More
A still from ICU in Corona Unit, a piece curated and directed by Mandisi Sindo of KASI RC for the project Here My Dear - a collection of works created by artists under the facilitation of the National Arts Festival from the PESP funding grant. National Arts Festival CEO, Monica Newton. The Gauteng South High... Read More
Wondering how to book for Standard Bank Presents? We've created a handy guide! Due to Covid regulations, tickets are limited due to venue capacity. We recommend you book early, particularly for those events you absolutely cannot miss! For a view of our full programme and bookings, go here. Step 1 via GIPHY Go to our website’s... Read More
The Ecstatic Shows take place at The Market Theatre complex, AFDA Red Roof Theatre and Wits Theatre. The Standard Bank Presents programme can be viewed online here and all booking links are on the show page so you can book your tickets directly from there. You can find a calendar view of the National Arts Festival Programme here Tickets for Standard... Read More
Social Disturbing by Xabiso Zweni and the Masifunde Creative Academy All shows are happening at the Masifunde Learner Academy The Standard Bank Presents programme can be viewed online here and all booking links are on the show page so you can book your tickets directly from there. You can find a calendar view of the National Arts Festival Programme here Tickets... Read More
The Neil Gonsalves Trio will perform at Standard Bank Presents in Durban All shows are happening at the Seabrooke’s Theatre The Standard Bank Presents programme can be viewed online here and all booking links are on the show page so you can book your tickets directly from there. You can find a calendar view of the National Arts Festival Programme here... Read More
Mandisi Dyantyis will be on the programme at the Cape Town edition of Standard Bank Presents All Cape Town shows will be hosted at Gallery 44, the theatre venue at 44 Long Street. The Standard Bank Presents programme can be viewed online here and all booking links are on the show page so you can book your tickets directly... Read More
Nthato Mokgata, 'Afro Jazz Giants Hip Hop Tribute' Mid pandemic, the National Arts Festival predicted that for some, the annual arts pilgrimage to Makhanda may be more challenging this year. So, while a smaller, tighter 11 days of amazing will still be happening live in Makhanda for the superfans, arts explorers and Eastern Cape audiences,... Read More
The first collection of shows on the 2021 National Arts Festival Experience programme has been announced. The hybrid festival sees the National Arts Festival return to live stages in Makhanda from 8-18 July, and for the first time in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Gqeberha and Durban ahead of the Eastern Cape event with a series of shows... Read More
Continuing to hold space for the rise of online performance and virtual audience interaction, the Festival’s month-long Online National Arts Festival programme will be announced soon. Alfred Hinkel’s Garage Dance Ensemble will be part of the online showcase with Gat innie Grond, Wond in My Siel (Hole in the Ground, Wound in my Soul); an innovative, socio-culturally relevant dance theatre... Read More
The long-time home of the National Arts Festival remains at the heart of the 2021 programme. Makhanda Live sees a smaller programme of works in keeping with the prevailing COVID-19 regulations, but there is no dampening of energy, excitement or urgency from artists who will be delivering on stage. The expanding National Arts Festival Experience programme... Read More
Are you thinking about coming to the National Arts Festival’s Makanda Live experience? It’s going to be 11 days of Amazing from 8-18 July 2021! With Covid still a reality, it will be smaller, but it will also be more personal and more united in the love of the arts than ever before. If adventure... Read More
IMPORTANT DATES The programme for the Festival will be announced on 7 June 2021. The Standard Bank Presents showcase takes place in various cities from 17 June – 4 July 2021. The National Arts Festival’s Makhanda Live will take place in Makhanda from 8 – 18 July 2021. The Online National Arts Festival takes place during the month of July on the Festival website here. The National Arts Festival will... Read More