Cape Town to play host to 'cheeky' new arts festival
17 April 2014
Cape Town is to host to a new performing arts festival that will be modelled on some
of the world's most popular fringe festivals, Tony Lankester, the chief executive of the
National Arts Festival, announced on Tuesday.
The Cape Town Fringe is a spin-off of the National Arts Festival, which is traditionally
held in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape in July. It is a partnership with the City of
Cape Town.
The festival, which will be held in September, will feature "young, dynamic and
cutting-edge work" from some of the South Africa's leading theatremakers, Lankester
said.
'Bold, innovative'
"The fringe model rests on two pillars. Firstly, the nature of the work on a fringe is
such that it is bold, innovative, exciting and it pushes boundaries for both artists and
audiences.
"Secondly, a fringe festival has a business model behind it which encourages
independence and sustainability, while costs
are shared between performers,"
Lankester said.
The Cape Town Fringe aims to present around 40 productions in venues across the city
as well as in areas such as Langa township.
"Access is critical to the success of a fringe and was a big factor in our decision to
proceed with this project," said Ian Neilson, Cape Town's deputy mayor and acting
mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing.
The City of Cape Town has committed to partner on the project for three years,
provided the event meets certain attendance and participation targets. "We want this
event to not only enrich the lives of residents, but also to create jobs, contribute to
the economy and drive tourism," Neilson said.
Call for proposals
A public call for proposals was made at the event's launch on Tuesday. Ismail
Mahomed, the National Art Festival's artistic director, said the organisers would be
looking for work that was "brash, bold, cheeky,
outspoken, confident, socially aware
and independent".
"The fringe model means that productions will pay a modest registration and venue-
hire fee, and then take the lion's share of the box office," Mahomed said. "The fringe
itself then manages the bulk of the marketing, ticket sales, venue setup and all the
staffing, financial, technical and legal requirements for the event."
Cape Town's City Hall will be the home base of the event, featuring several
performance venues and a "fringe hub" where artists, audiences and the media will be
able to gather.
World Fringe Alliance
The National Arts Festival is a member of the World Fringe Alliance, a grouping of
nine fringe festivals around the world which collectively reach an audience of more
than 3-million people. Alliance members are the festivals in Grahamstown, Hollywood,
New York, Edinburgh, Brighton, Prague, Amsterdam, Perth and Adelaide.
"We're building the Cape Town
Fringe on this bedrock of global best practice," said
Lankester, who is the founding chair of the alliance. "Through our network we will be
able to bring some great international productions to Cape Town, and continue
creating opportunities for our artists to travel the world."
- The Cape Town Fringe will run from 25 September until 5 October. The call for
proposals is open.
- Website: www.capetownfringe.co.za
SAinfo reporter
Cape Town's iconic City Hall is in the heart of the city and the centre of many cultural events (Photo: Creative Cape Town)
