(The Monument and the City of
Grahamstown)
Final stats of the 2014 National Arts Festival in
Grahamstown were released.
Street parades, a birthday celebration, a dazzling array of
international performers from over 40 countries, and over 2,800 performances in
11 days all contributed to a record 225,538 attendees at the National Arts
Festival in Grahamstown this year.
Releasing attendance figures, Festival CEO Tony Lankester
paid tribute to the artists whose work “filled our stages and the hearts of our
audience” during the annual event. “This was a special year for us for a
variety of reasons, and we wanted to mark 2014 as one of the best Festivals
ever. I think we achieved that,” he said.
Attendance at the event grew by 6.5% over 2013, and the new
figure represents 21.4% growth over a rolling five-year period. “Last year we
began looking at our numbers over a period of time rather than a year-by-year
basis,” Lankester said. “This gives us a better idea of audience trends over
five years, and can be more informative than snapshots of a moment in time.”
The biggest growth this year came from sales on the Main
programme, attributable largely to an expanded programme aimed to commemorate
the Festival’s 40th birthday, and from attendance at a greatly increased number
of free performances and activities aimed at the broader Grahamstown community.
“Ticket sales, in rand terms, also hit a new high, breaking
R7m for the first time,” Lankester said. “This puts more money into the pockets
of performers than ever before.”
While Lankester said it was difficult to single out specific
productions from the vast programme, he noted the high number of performances
on the Main that were completely sold out. “What is encouraging about these is
the diversity of productions selling out individual performances – from Dance (Cargo: Precious and Nile) to Theatre (Ubu and the
Truth Commission, Kwela Bafana and Macbeth:slapeloos),
Music (The Muffinz, Strings of Mali, Lira, Hugh Masekela and the Gala Concert)
and also including film, jazz, some lectures and performance art.
The Fringe also featured a “healthy crop” of sold-out
performances. These included perennial Festival franchises such as Raiders and Big Boys and also new theatre work.
“Overall, we’re hearing from our Standard Bank Ovation Award
panel that the quality on the Fringe was higher than it has been for a while.
They cited work such as Undone, Whistle
Stop, Gogo and Big Sister, A Man Called Rolex, Siembamba and Civil Parting.
Additionally it was encouraging to see new artists come to the fore – including
young comedian Sne Dladla and jazz musician Tumi Mogorosi, who has been
acknowledged elsewhere for his extraordinary talent and debuted his Project ELO on the Fringe this year,”
Lankester said.
Another pleasing aspect of the Festival in 2014 was the
expansion of activities into township spaces. “We are acutely aware that we
operate in a deeply divided city and, while we can’t hope to change that
single-handedly, we hope we can make a difference for the short period in which
the Festival operates,” Lankester said.
Initiatives this year included two expanded Street Parades
on the last weekend, both of which started in Grahamstown East; the sprawling
citywide exhibition which formed part of the Creation of a Nation programme and
which included works, murals and a presence across the whole city, and ongoing
support for the Fingo Festival which plays a vital role in drawing the youth to
the Arts.
“Over and above those projects, we staged 48 free
performances in places such as Grahamstown Prison, Santa TB Clinic and Settlers’
Hospital, to take the Festival to people who can’t come to us, and we
distributed 5,907 tickets to Festival performances to 32 community groups,
schools, churches, and youth projects,” Lankester said. This equates to over
R350,000 worth of tickets.
“One can always argue we should do more, but as an NGO
ourselves there is a limit to what we can achieve in just two weeks,” Lankester
said. The previously announced Creative City project will begin to address the
city divide by establishing year-round arts projects and activities.
The dates for the 2015 Festival have also been announced,
with the event due to take place from July 2 to 12, 2015. “Planning for 2015 is
already underway with the Main call for proposals currently open. Between now
and then we have the inaugural Cape Town Fringe in September (September 25 to October
5) which will give us another opportunity to showcase some of the best
performances South Africa has to offer”, Lankester said.
For more information on the National Arts Festival, click on
the banner ad at the top of this page or visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za
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