On the eve of the National Arts Festival's 40^th anniversary, the festival programme continues to push boundaries, and presents a thought-provoking line-up in Grahamstown, from the 27 June to 7 July 2013.

As always, the backbone of the main programme is comprised of the work of the Standard Bank Young Artists.  The first ever young artist for performance art, Anthea Moys, presents a series of contests entitled Anthea Moys vs the City of Grahamstown. Young artist for Dance Fana Tshabalala's engagement with cleansing ceremonies is explored in his new work titled Indumba.Young artists for theatre (Prince Lamla) and visual arts (Mary Sibande), use historical incidents as the points of departure for their offerings -Asinamali and The purple shall govern, respectively; with SBYA for musicRunette Bothapaying tribute to three centuries of composition in her recital, and SBYA for jazz Shane Cooper pushing the envelope with his compositions and collaborations.

The Standard Bank Jazz Festival, Grahamstown 2013 incorporates a variety of disciplines into their programme. The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival takes place alongside a diverse programme that features Mainstream, Blues / Funk / World Music, Afro-Jazz, Modern Jazz and Youth.

Mainstream performances are headlined by special guest from the Juilliard school of music in New York, renowned trombonist and shells specialist Steve Turre. He adds zest to the Awesome Big Band, and his solo show is supported by a strong line-up compromising Marcus Wyatt (Trumpet), Bokani Dyer (piano), Hein van de Geyn (bass) and Kevin Gibson (drums).

The 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist Award (SBYAA) winners are hard at work in preparing to make the most of their chance to showcase new work at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, 27 June to 7 July, this year.

Prince Lamla, Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre, is busy pulling together the logistics details for staging "another thought-provoking classic". A proponent of 'poor man's theatre' which does not rely on vast theatrical devices, Lamla believes in focussing on the basics as the means to tell the story, but comments that "the Festival stage is a big one", and that he looks forward to producing work in this context. Lamla's production   Asinamali marks the debut of the Soweto Theatre as an associate producer on the festival's main stage. His production at the festival will explore pressing questions in the South African context.

Watch this space for news on the coming event which takes place from 25 - 27 August 2013

9 May 2012, Johannesburg - The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz once again reinforces its status as this country's premier jazz festival thanks to a stellar line up of international and local giants on the jazz scene.

Appearing in Newtown, Johannesburg, from August 23 to 25 headline acts include Grammy-Award winner Kurt Elling who has been hailed as the jazz male vocalist of his generation; trombone master Wycliffe Gordon; Grammy-winning guitarist Earl Klugh as well as an appearance by the world famous Duke Ellington Orchestra.

This year's National Arts Festival Arena programme will feature new productions presented by winners of the 2011 Standard Bank Ovation Awards, as well as two award-winning productions invited from World Fringe Alliance member festivals. The 38^th National Arts Festival runs from 28 June to 8 July in Grahamstown this year.

From the Perth Fringe World Festival and with support from the Australian High Commission, Hope is the Saddest, devised and directed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler is a bittersweet story of falling in love, bicycles, death and Dolly Parton. Hope is a childlike, eternally optimistic young woman who takes all her life lessons from Dolly Parton's lyrics and is not afraid to go to extreme measures when fate makes true love land/collapse at her feet.

The National Arts Festival will present the biggest Fringe offering in its 38 year history, this year. In line with the spirit of 'open access' embodied by the Festival, 390 Fringe productions are expected to hit the boards during this year's 11 Days of Amaz!ng.

This 20% increase in the number of applications has meant that the Festival has had to source new venues in a city already bursting at the seams, but the Albany Bowling Club, Oatlands School and St Aidan's Chapel will no doubt fast become an integral part of the Festival landscape, and artists are increasingly making use of unusual and site-specific spaces. 

Mzansi stars and international guests make for a fabulous musical mix at the 38^th National Arts Festival, which runs from 28 June to 8 July in Grahamstown this year.

2012 Standard Bank Young Artist for Music, Soprano Kelebogile Boikanyo's rise in the South African opera world has been nothing short of remarkable. She celebrates her Award with a vocal recital, in which she performs with Thembisile Twala (Soprano) and Abraham Paulus Ferreira (Pianist), showing off her vocal versatility with a repertoire that ranges from Mozart and Donizetti, to Bizet and Offenbach, to Gershwin and Khumalo. Boikanyo also features, with outstanding marimba player Magda de Vries, in the annual Gala Concert conducted by Richard Cock.

This year, the Standard Bank Jazz Festival programme, taking place alongside the 38^th National Arts Festival (from 28 June to 8 July in Grahamstown), is developed around six distinct genres of Jazz. The themes are Youth, World Music / Gospel, Cross-over Jazz, Afro-Jazz, Mainstream Jazz and Modern Jazz.

The Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival (SBNYJF) celebrates its 20^th anniversary in 2012 with a suitably powerful line-up of musicians and teachers, gathered to perform for the audiences of the National Arts Festival, but also to inspire the 350 young South African jazz players gathered in Grahamstown - our national jazz future. The Festival celebrates two decades of jazz development with a blow-out performance of some of those who have been teaching and performing at the NYJF, putting together some of Europe's leading performers with young South African talent in the Youth genre.

The Standard Bank Jazz Festival takes place alongside the annual National Arts Festival, held from 28 June to 8 July 2012 in Grahamstown. This year, the programme is developed around six distinct Jazz genres - Youth, World Music/Gospel, Cross-over, Mainstream, Modern and Afro-Jazz.

Local stars lead from the front, with legendary South African musicians Mango Groove, Sibongile Khumalo, our own "King of R&B" Loyiso Bala and Afrikaans rapper Jitsvinger all making much-anticipated appearances in Grahamstown's various Jazz venues.  

The National Arts Festival is serving up a massive 'Banquet of the Arts' for its 38^th edition, which runs from 28 June to 8 July in Grahamstown this year.

Thirty two tons of additional equipment will be brought into Grahamstown to help transform every corner of the city into a performance space, with over 1000 lights to be rigged in an unprecedented 59 venues. With over 80 productions on the Main Programme, 8 on the Arena and a record 390 shows on the Fringe, the programme will continue to delight the nearly national, continental and international visitors that make this annual arts pilgrimage. Last year the Festival reported attendance of just over 200 000 at its various events, crammed into 34km² of space in Grahamstown.

The 38^th National Arts Festival runs from 28 June to 8 July in Grahamstown this year. Within the broader structures of a fabulous programme, a number of mini-festivals catering for specialized tastes or celebrating deeper partnerships are taking root.

Two exciting new initiatives to look out for this year are a season of solo plays within the Main theatre programme, and the launch of a French/South African season. 

The 38^th National Arts Festival in Grahamstown will once again showcase the best in South African and international art across every genre from 28 June to 8 July this year.

The Main programme's core is the cutting edge work of the 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners who continue to challenge and explore new directions as they establish their artistic voices. The winners will be presenting a varied and exciting programme of work in drama, dance, music, jazz and visual art.

The 2012 Main Theatre programme boasts two world premieres and a list of world-class productions at the 38^th National Arts Festival, which runs from 28 June to 8 July in Grahamstown this year.

Athol Fugard celebrates his 80^th birthday in June, and the National Arts Festival joins in celebrating the life and work of this iconic playwright by presenting, with  the Fugard Theatre and Mannie Manim productions, the world premiere of his newest play, The Blue Iris. A love story of tender and personal revelations with layers of emotional exchange, this glimpse at ghosts of the past reflects true Fugard brilliance. Directed by Janice Honeyman, it promises not to disappoint.

30 June - 9 July 2011
(incorporating the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival)

Collaborations between local and international jazz stars formed the backbone of the 2011 Standard Bank Jazz Festival, which is an integral part of the annual National Arts Festival Grahamstown.

25-27 August 2011

There was a global mélange of sound at the 2011 Standard Bank Joy of Jazz when top international artists joined the legendaryWynton Marsalisat the country's premier jazz-travaganza!

The National Arts Festival Think!Fest, in partnership with new media partner The Daily Maverick, is a space for leading thinkers from a broad spectrum of disciplines to collect their thoughts and share their insights in a series of lectures, workshops and discussions at the Rhodes University Eden Grove complex, from 1 - 10 July.

There are various overarching themes that broadly direct this yearís Think!Fest programme. Think!Fest convener Anthea Garman said: ìWeíve taken on some important issues in the arts this year, disability and dance, the funding regime, the place of critique. Weíre also hosting and interfacing with films and exhibitions as well as keeping alive conversations about social issues big and small (what social contribution are you making? are you happy? do you sleep well?). And weíve introduced for the first time our ëfree-thinking speakersí ñ people with strong opinions who want to share them more widely and start debates. Weíre also looking into the future by giving some impressive young South Africans a platform to talk for themselves. Itís a big, varied, wide-ranging programme which we hope will satisfy those who like to talk and think between their shows.

There are very few musical platforms that draw fourteen different nations together with a single vision. The Standard Bank Jazz Festival (SBJF) in Grahamstown is one of them. The only agenda of this collaboration of nations is to celebrate the globally-shared delight of making music, and to learn from one another.

Norway, France, USA, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Mozambique, Britain, Slovakia, Australia, Switzerland, Israel and South Africa are all represented on this year's SBJF programme.

The 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners are "a group of diversely unique individuals with distinctive artistic voices, who that are bringing a fresh edge to their respective disciplines," said National Arts Festival Committee Chairman Jay Pather at the announcement of the winners of the prestigious award in Johannesburg last night, hosted by Standard Bank.

The winners of the 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Awards, are:

The Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz 2010 has secured some of the world's top international and local jazz talent for the opening shows of this year's three day jazz extravaganza from the 26 - 28 August; confirming that there is life after the final whistle blows on the world cup.

Headlining the jazzfest on the opening night on the Dinaledi stage is a trio of top performers -celebrated soul singer Rahsaan Patterson, London based guitarist and vocalist Brian Temba and the phenomenal Cape Town jazz singer Auriol Hays.

May 23, 2010, Johannesburg - The Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz 2010 has secured some of the world's top international and local jazz talent for the opening shows of this year's three day jazz extravaganza from the 26 - 28 August; confirming that there is life after the final whistle blows on the world cup.

One of the most talented and critically acclaimed soul singers of the last decade Rahsaan Patterson headlines the opening night of the festival on the Dinaledi stage, with support from London based guitarist and vocalist Brian Temba and the phenomenal Cape Town jazz singer Auriol Hays.

Some of the world's leading jazz musicians - appearing at this year's Standard Bank Joy of Jazz which takes place at Emperor's Palace on August 25 and in Newtown on August 26 and 27 - will run free workshops teaching youngsters and musicians the intricacies of the craft.

They are legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the winner of nine Grammy Awards® and the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music; R&B singer Alexander O'Neal; Grammy and Tony Award-winning jazz diva Dee Dee Bridgewater; soul singer and keyboardist Frank McComb and the HGM Jazz Messengers. HGM is a Croatian musical NGO engaged in working with young musicians and is a member of JMI (Jeunesses Musicales International. The HGM Jazz Messengers are Sigi Feigi (tenor sax), Andreas Marinello (alto sax), Antonio Gecek (trumpet), Miron Huaser (trombone), Davor Dedic (piano), Norbert Farkas (bass) and Klaus Furstner (drums).

Giants of the jazz world include Switzerland's Grammy-Award winning Andreas Vollenweider in performance with Pops Mohamed; world renowned trumpeter Ingrid Jensen; show stopping American vocalist Phil Perry; Main Ingredient from America with vocalists Cuba Gooding Sr; Spain's Sumrra and Room 11. Two of the artists who appeared at the first Standard Bank Joy of Jazz in Newtown in 2000, US saxophonist Marion Meadows and pianist Bob Baldwin, return to celebrate the decade anniversary.

Performers from the African continent include South Africa's Jonas Gwangwa; Afro Jazz featuring Jimmy Dludlu; Vusi Mahlasela; Brian Thusi; Sterling EQ; the 2009 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for jazz Kesivan Naidoo as well as the Nigerian All Stars featuring Kúnlé Ayo and Rwanda's Somi.

Leading South African songstresses Judith Sephuma and Unathi Nkayi are joining the already impressive line-up at this year's Standard Bank Joy of Jazz. Sephuma - who is regarded as one of the country's leading jazz and Afro-pop singers and is the recipient of three South African Music Awards (SAMAs) - will perform on the Dinaledi Stage on Friday, August 28. She shares the stage with Spain's Summra; the Lao Tizer Band featuring violinist Karen Briggs and guitarist Chieli Minucci and Main Ingredient from the US which includes vocalist Cuba Gooding.

Over the years, singer and well-known radio presenter Unathi Nkayi has collected a string of accolades that have stamped her as one of the most influential women in entertainment. She performs at the Market Theatre on Friday, August 28, and shares the bill with Arlee Leonard and Phil Perry from the US and the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band.

The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz - taking place in Newtown from August 27 to 29 - proudly celebrates a decade of putting South Africa on the international jazz map.

The first Standard Bank Joy of Jazz took place in Newtown in 2000 and featured among others US jazz maestros saxophonist Marion Meadows and pianist Bob Baldwin who will be proudly returning to this year's event.

The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz proudly celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a truly international line-up of top artists from around the world while continuing to discover and explore the heritage and riches of home-grown talent.

Two of the artists who appeared at the first Standard Bank Joy of Jazz in Newtown in 2000, US saxophonist Marion Meadows and pianist Bob Baldwin, return to celebrate the decade anniversary.

Andreas Vollenweider (Switzerland)

More than 15 million records sold in 47 countries, a Grammy Award and several Grammy nominations as well as 3432 concerts in the most renowned venues around the globe … These are the figures behind the fascinating story of Andreas Vollenweider's music. More than three decades ago, Vollenweider reinvented harp-playing with his own unique sound. His latest album Air is the latest episode of this story. On Air, he no longer plays his harp as an accompanying instrument but brings it to the fore. Largely without extensive orchestral sonic landscapes, the subtlety, refinement and musicality of his innovative style are allowed to be truly recognised.

•Andreas Vollenweider featuring Pops Mohamed performs on the Mbira Stage on Friday, August 28 at 23h00 and on Saturday, August 29 at 23h15.

Some of the world's leading jazz musicians - appearing at this year's Standard Bank Joy of Jazz which takes place in Newtown from August 27 to 29 - will run free workshops teaching youngsters and musicians the intricacies of the craft.

They include acclaimed Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider; Canadian trumpeter Ingrid Jensen; American pianist Bob Baldwin and saxophonist Marion Meadows and American jazz vocalist Arlee Leonard.