The Virtual National Arts Festival programme is slowly starting to emerge, says spokesperson Sascha Polkey.
“It has been cocooned away as our Curatorial Committee got to grips with reimagining what this festival could become. Now, just short of 30 days before ‘lift-off’, we are leaning in to its complexities.”
The Festival’s website is readying itself to become a virtual stage: all events will be accessed through the website portal – both curated work and un-selected ‘fringe’ events.
The Curated Programme is a schedule of events that will be released each day from 25 June to 5 July. These daily programmes will consist of pre-recorded performances (theatre, music, dance), films, live broadcasts, visual art ‘walkabouts’, workshops, and more.
“These programmes have been carefully curated around a theme and the preamble to each day’s programme will provide the framework for that day’s offerings,” Polkey said.
The Virtual Fringe (vFringe) is a pay-per-view platform.
“We will be carefully monitoring submissions to make sure they’re in line with universally accepted online presentation standards,” Polkey said. “But, that said, similarly to the Fringe in Makhanda, this is where you will find artists experimenting with their creative instincts – bending the rules to fit this new world.”
Comedy, performance art, cabaret and magic feature on the vFringe, among other acts. Tickets will be priced from R25.
- Read more about how it will all fit together on the Festival’s website