Shows selling out fast as festival rocks

JAZZ entered a new riotous phase at the 40th National Arts Festival when the Saturday Night Funk Party rocked the rafters of the normally staid Diocesan School for Girls' Lilla Strong Hall in Grahamstown.

Revellers swept the formality of the stiff plastic chairs aside as rappers Farel Adams and Teboho Maidza, led by Stirling High-educated SA jazz drumming star Kesivan Naidoo, whipped the crowd into a bopping, jiving frenzy.

Meanwhile, shows were selling out and ticket sales were edging towards beating last year's 211000, festival chief executive Tony Lankester said.

This was despite the traditional winter front which rumbled and whistled past the Monument building on Saturday morning sending the mercury down to 6°C, excluding the wind chill factor.

"We had a massive day at the box office on Friday," he said, adding that mid-festival ticket sales would only be announced later this week.

He said a wildcat municipal workers' strike would not disrupt the massive 500-show festival: "We have our crews in place and we can assure festinoes and artists that safety and comfort will not be affected at our venues."

Research has shown that the 10-day event, which ends this weekend with a top-billing of living legend Hugh Masekela and top-selling soul-funk diva Lira, provides jobs for almost 500 local people, 80% of whom have no other employment in Grahamstown during the year.

Lankester said the festival, which cost R30-million to produce this year, brings Grahamstown R90-million in general earnings, and the Eastern Cape R349-million. This was according to Rhodes University-commissioned research released last year. - Mike Loewe