Reporting steady figures from 2013, and with confirmation of funding in place for next year, the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown is already planning a special programme for its 40^th anniversary in 2014.

“With the 2013 Festival almost behind us, we’ve already started planning for next year, and welcome proposals for what looks set to be a very special Festival,” says Artistic Director Ismail Mahomed. “The stronger the pool of contributions, the more fodder we have with which put on a fantastic programme,” he explained, encouraging interested parties to submit their proposals for consideration, timeously.

Festival CEO, Tony Lankester reiterated “with confirmation of our funding for next year already in place, we are able to start finalising details for next year’s Festival. We hope to set a celebratory and reflective tone for the year which will run through the programming as we commemorate important historical milestones”.

2014 marks the 20^th anniversary of South Africa’s constitutional democracy, coinciding with the 40^th anniversary of the country’s oldest Arts Festival and the 30th anniversary of the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards.

The National Arts Festival’s Main programme is renowned for premiering new work that celebrates artistic excellence, innovation and an exploration of intersections between various artistic genres. All proposals must be submitted as per the brief specified in the guidelines for the call of proposals which will be available on the Festival website as from Wednesday 10 July 2013.

The 40^th edition of the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown will take place from 3 July to 13 July 2014. See staging.codelikeclockwork.com/naf2015, or the National Arts Festival Grahamstown on Facebook, or @artsfestival on Twitter, for more information.

The National Arts Festival is sponsored by Standard Bank, The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Eastern Cape Government, Department of Arts and Culture, National Arts Council, City Press and M Net.

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