National Arts Festival reports solid mid-way growth

"Our first-half figures show that, compared to the same period last year, the number of tickets sold has grown by around 11.8% across both the Main and Fringe," festival CEO Tony Lankester said.

However, he cautioned against predicting similar levels of growth for the whole event. "There are a number of big shows still to come which sold out on pre-sales. Those sales are counted in the first weekend's figures, even though the tickets will only be used later on in the festival," he said.

Increase in day visitors

The 2011 Festival reported record attendance of just over 200 000, and organisers are hoping to match or improve on that figure. The festival attributes the influx over the first weekend to the unexpectedly warm weather, which saw an increase in day visitors from Port Elizabeth, East London and other parts of the Eastern Cape.

Traders on the Transnet Village Green reported strong sales for the period. Forecasts are that the warm weather is set to continue for the rest of the festival, which ends with a '50% Fringe day' on Sunday, 8 July with all Fringe tickets being sold at half price.

The first half of the festival saw more than 120 sold out performances. "We're very pleased with the number of sold out shows," festival director, Ismail Mahomed said.

"The second half of the festival, which features Pieter Dirk Uys, Mango Groove, Sibongile Khumalo, visiting productions from Switzerland and Italy, a production from the Market Theatre, Artscape presenting 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and the Baxter and State Theatre's production of 'Mies Julie' should be equally strong and we look forward to ending the festival on a high note," he said.