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The Newtown 2010 Festival - bringing Joburg to the world

Newtown, the cultural hub of Johannesburg, is hosting a cultural festival for the duration of the Fifa World Cup in June, to show the world just what Joburg - and South Africa - has to offer. The Newtown 2010 Festival offers a month of music, dance, theatre, spoken word poetry, literature, craft, film, photography, science, outdoor performances and visual art held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues.

The Newtown Management District has received funding from the Lotteries Board for a 2010 programme for Newtown. The funding will be used to market Newtown, for a legacy project, and the Newtown Festival itself. The Lotto funding will be used to create an atmosphere in the precinct that is fresh, energetic, creative and uniquely South African. Located in the heart of the city, with safe and easy access from Nelson Mandela Bridge and Carr Street interchange, Newtown is awash with theatres, art galleries, restaurants, museums, dance studios, craft markets, nightclubs and jazz spots.

The Newtown Festival’s primary purpose is to ensure that the 2010 celebrations are felt on the streets, in the venues, and in public spaces amongst visitors, pedestrians and commuters, with free performances being offered to create a welcoming atmosphere.

The 2010 programme will include traditional music and dance, busking, and open stage in the public space, a dance, music and theatre programme in the venues appropriate to these arts, as well as in the galleries, museums and restaurants unique to Newtown.The objectives of the festival include involving some of the more deprived and isolated local communities. Financial support will help to boost local contemporary and traditional performers and musicians, for instance through the busking programme, which will be held in several key spots throughout the Newtown precinct.

A traditional dance programme at Mary Fitzgerald Square will create a feeling in visitors of being treated to something extra and uniquely South African. Music and dance performances in IsiBhaca, IsiGeke, Ushameni, Maskandi, Indlamu and many more will transform this public space into a popular gathering place.

A kiddie’s corner, located at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, aims to keep kids entertained while their parents feast on the wide range of events that on offer throughout the precinct. The programme will consist of active education and games, musicians, clowns, magicians, acrobats, jugglers, jumping castles, and street theatre and dance performances.

The indoor programme includes Jo Stromgren Kompani’s ‘A Dance Tribute to the Art of Football’ at the Dance Factory, Brett Bailey’s ‘House of the Holy Afro’ at The Market Theatre, plenty of African Jazz at the Bassline – and much more.

The galleries and museums will be mounting exhibitions and conducting learner programmes related to the history of South African and African soccer. Museum Africa is hosting an extraordinary showcase of African art entitled ‘Artists of Africa’, an art and craft exhibition featuring the work of artists from all over the continent. The Science of Soccer at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre promises to be a fascinating look at a different angle of the game. Market Photo Workshop and the Workers Museum will both be hosting exhibitions – details to be announced.
The precinct’s restaurants will host free music and poetry performances, and the African bookshop will host its own regular poetry and book reading sessions.

The 2010 legacy project will bring to life Newtown’s rich physical, cultural and political history, which is reflected in its many historic buildings many of which have been restored and developed and become homes to the Newtown Cultural Sector.

Creative signage, a documentary, a website and a companion brochure will make the heritage and vibrant cultural life of the Newtown precinct more accessible to visitors. The legacy project also involves the training of five Newtown specific site guides and hospitality for front of house and security staff at various attractions and venues.

A marketing and publicity plan encompassing both traditional and non-traditional media has already begun to drive awareness of the festival and generate interest among both Joburg residents and the 2010 soccer visitors to the city. Be there - or miss out on what’s happening in Newtown!