Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
Several local artists from different parts of the Bay and the Eastern Cape will have an opportunity to showcase their talents at the inaugural Mandela Bay Arts Festival.
Bay residents and visitors can expect a full programme of artistic works across theatre and comedy with more than 102 live shows across the city.
Award-winning composer, singer and songwriter, Asanda Lusaseni known as Msaki from East London.
The festival will take place over 10 days in seven venues across the city from the 23rd of September to the 2nd of October.
The Metro's mayoral head for arts and culture, Bassie Kamana, says this festival is for local artists who felt the full brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The artists suffered a lot and it is important for them to benefit from this one as artists from Nelson Mandela Bay. We need to keep artists here at home so they don't go somewhere else. We cannot remain conveyor belt of other areas for artists," he said.
The National Arts Festival which has partnered up with Metro to create the multi-disciplinary festival says the conversation started several years ago.
NAF CEO Monica Newton says there will be something for everyone including music, dance, comedy and spoken word.
Newton says shows will be taking place in venues across the city including the Athenaeum: Little Theatre & Gallery, Masifunde Youth Centre, Barclay Theatre in Kariega and the St Thomas High School Auditorium in Gelvandale.
"Everybody can expect music, theatre, comedy, poetry everything you can think of will be part of the Mandela Bay Arts Festival. We will also have great workshops and wonderful exhibitions," she added.
Poet Lelethu Mahambehlala, affectionately known as PoeticSoul, who formed part of the Artistic Committee says it's great to see the results of the committee's work.
"There is still a whole lot more that we will still need to do but it's nice to see results and to know that I was part of the discussions that leads us to this point. It's very exciting to know that we aren't howling for the sake of fighting but we want to see real change happen. This is what service delivery is to the artists," Mahambehlala said.
Ticket prices will range from R30 to R120. The programme and ticket sales can be accessed via the website https://mbaf.co.za
