The 2023 National Arts Festival closed on Sunday, 2 July, and organisers say it was better than expected. Not only was it a busier Festival than 2022, the first one that was staged live post-Covid, but the low levels of load-shedding meant that the Festival did not have to constantly rely on expensive backup generators.
Festival CEO Monica Newton said that, despite the tough economic climate, the Festival saw brisk bookings, “We definitely saw an increase in visitors to this Festival. While we have not counted physical bodies arriving in Makhanda, ticket sales are up over 50% on last year and we are very pleased with not only good ticket sales, especially for Fringe artists, but also with the truly positive feedback and warm reception we received from audiences this year.”
From the point at which ticket sales went live in May till now, over 90,000 unique users visited the website. Website visitors indicate that visitors to the Festival were primarily from Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha, East London, Tshwane, eThekwini, and of course, Makhanda.
Consistent with the audience profile of previous live editions, the bulk of web traffic (54%) was attributed to women and 49% were under the age of 35 with 51% over the age of 35. The Festival recorded social media reach was over 1,1 million. Fringe productions totaled 59% of all ticket sales.
Artists were also supportive of this year’s Festival and for many, it was a big success. One of six productions from the Northern Cape, The Legendary Queer Sisters won a Standard Bank Ovation Award. Performer Emmanuel È'mma Rattle said, “It was a great experience. The Festival gives us a platform for international recognition as well as through social media and networking.”
The exceptionally cold and wet opening days of the Festival put a damper on the Village Green and Church Square markets in the first few days of the Festival but trade recovered as the sun came out and 53 000 visitors enjoyed some sunshine and shopping. Rainy cold weather did not keep audiences out of theatres, however, with many shows selling out. Gregory Maqoma’s extraordinary production Exit/Exist sold out twice, South African dance icon Mamela Nyamza’s HATCHED ENSEMBLE played to capacity houses, strong attendance was noted at the Boston Youth Philharmonic Orchestra's two performances and there were three sell-out shows for 2022 Standard Bank Young Artist for Music, Msaki. Nadia David's Hold Still also enjoyed two full houses. On the Fringe, top-selling shows included Bronze Standard Bank Ovation Award winner, A Vegan Killed My Marriage, The Story of Fire, Shrek the Musical JR, and Gold Standard Bank Ovation winner, The King of Broken Things.
Pictured below: Selah Liberty Joy's Story of Fire was a huge hit with audience(Image : Mark Wessels)
The Schools Festival program and Youth Jazz Festival brought over 500 learners to join various programs at the Festival. These opportunities for young people to come to the NAF are vital to the Festival’s accessibility; inspiring future Festival audiences and the next generation of artists, performers, and of course, brand managers and CEOs.
The Festival will now focus on its 2024 edition and a celebration of its 50th year.
