about us

Browse Shows

We are the NATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL

The National Arts Festival has long been a highlight on South Africa’s cultural calendar. It’s a time for artists and visitors to gather, engage and celebrate. Showcasing work across a range of disciplines, this is a festival that encourages range, versatility and innovation.

For the last two unprecedented years we have our generous sponsors to thank for keeping the spirit of the National Arts Festival alive, affording us the privileged to create  extra ordinary works that have reflected the paradigm shift of the artistic landscape not only in South Africa but around the world. Our creative industries have felt the worst of the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and it is with great pleasure that we welcome our patrons back to salute the courage and perseverance of the South African arts community.

Welcome to Our Home

Makhanda has been the home of the National Arts Festival since 1974 and no two festivals have ever been the same. What hasn’t changed is our belief that the creative arts offer more than entertainment.

As the biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent, its importance as a space for artists and audiences to come together, engage and create unique cultural experiences cannot be underestimated. Through the lens that the arts offer, we are better equipped to understand this world, our place in it, find meaning and drive transformation.

The Festival has deep roots in Makhanda, and for decades the Monument has been a place where people from different walks of life gather to celebrate the arts.

Sundowner Concert in the Monument Photo by Jan Potgieter
Little Red Riding Hood photo by Mark Wessels

Today the Festival continues to provide space for work that interrogates the country and world we live in, and expresses the viewpoints of diverse communities locally and across the globe. 2020 brought with it a new challenge – Covid-19. Felt across the globe the pandemic left no element of human life untouched. Artists and all of those involved in this world, felt the effect of a world in lockdown. It was with this in mind that we pivoted the National Arts Festival into a purely digital event that could be accessed from anywhere in the world. It was a massive challenge, but it has allowed us to broaden what we do going forward.

In 2021, we planned a hybrid festival that included three elements, Makhanda Live, an Online Festival, and Standard Bank Presents. As many of you know, we had to shift out plans once again, and performances that we had hoped to run with live audiences were live streamed.

And now we are here – more knowledgeable about all things digital, but incredibly excited to have a face-to-face festival packed full of performances, including drama, dance, physical theatre, comedy, music, jazz, exhibitions and more. In addition to the Curated Programme and the Fringe, there are a number of films available created by vFringe artists. Here’s to a great 2022 NAF!

Transformation and keeping apace with the artists who make the Festival unique and distinctive every year is complex, difficult,  rewarding and exciting. Crucially though, this allows us to stay relevant, to stay sustainable and to still feel like home to the artists we work with, transformation is not negotiable.

Here’s to not becoming history! And to finding creative ways to be heard, to listen, to heal, to understand and to make meaning.