AFRICA'S FESTIVAL CAPITAL

The joy of the Grahamstown Arts Festival is that the entire community is involved. Venues are set up all across the city, and the place becomes a hubbub of activity from early morning trading of food and crafts to late night concerts and raves. The National Arts Festival, now in its 30th years, offers a wide programme over ten days, with literally hundreds of exhibitions and performances. The Arts Festival has become the premiere showcase for South African visual arts, music, theatre and dance. Together with the main programme, there is also a flourishing Fringe Festival, as well as several other simultaneous festivals, such as the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, the New Music Indaba. the Film Festival, the Children’s Art Festival, the popular Winter School, and Wordfest. All of this is coupled with the large craft fair focused on Fiddler’s Green and Clover Square.
  The Arts Festival is followed each year by the National Schools’ Festival. This affords scholars from across the country the opportunity to see the pick of the shows from the main and fringe programs and participate in workshops and lectures presented by the artists.
  The increasingly popular Sasol Science Festival is held in March, and gives the public an exciting introduction to dozens of different aspects of science, engineering and technology, with hands-on workshops and exhibitions. Leading local and international scientists present lectures and demonstrations of their research and the latest developments in fields as diverse as astrophysics, ichthyology, genetic engineering, aerodynamics and archaeology.
  The Makana Freedom Festival starts on the 22nd of April which marks the commemoration of the Battle of Grahamstown and end on the 27th April which is a public holiday to celebrate national Freedom Day.