As the 47th National Arts Festival draws near, former performers at the event have dubbed it a big boost to kick-starting a career and have encouraged aspiring artists to throw in their hat by participating in the 2021 National Arts Festival Fringe.

The festival organisers put out a call this week for artists to express their interest in participating in the Fringe festival which focuses on work that has been created and produced independently of the main festival and not curated by the festival’s artistic director and committee...