The 2016 edition of the Cape Town Fringe will take to the streets this year with the inclusion of a brand-new event – the Cape Town Buskers Festival – presented as part of a partnership between the Fringe and the V&A Waterfront.

Speaking in Grahamstown, Cape Town Fringe and National Arts Festival CEO Tony Lankester said he was delighted to announce the partnership, which will see South African and international street theatre performers present their work at the V&A.

“We’re planning on presenting about 30 acts, which will include at least three invited headliners from the world busker circuit,” Lankester said. “The acts will perform over four days on four free, public stages at the V&A Waterfront.”

The Festival, the first of its kind for South Africa, will celebrate street performers of all kinds, including acrobats, musicians, mimes, and circus acts.

“As the most visited destination on the continent, the V&A Waterfront looks forward to hosting the first-ever Cape Town Buskers Festival. For our more than 24-million annual visitors, buskers are a beloved and firmly entrenched tradition, and visitors have come to expect an encounter with these colourful characters. Likewise, the V&A Waterfront presents buskers with the largest potential audience in the country,” said V&A Waterfront CEO David Green.

A series of workshops and ‘creative exchanges’ between local and international performers will be run during the Buskers Festival.

“An important aspect of the Festival is creating opportunities for local buskers to perform alongside well-established international acts. In this way they will be exposed to new skills, and be given opportunities to develop and incorporate new ideas into their routines. The Waterfront believes the Festival will position buskers as the professional artists they are,” Green said.

The Buskers Festival dovetails with the Cape Town Fringe, running for four days from 6 – 9 October 2016, while the Fringe kicks off on 22 September until 8 October.

About the Cape Town Fringe

The Cape Town Fringe is managed by the National Arts Festival. The City of Cape Town is the Host Sponsor of the Cape Town Fringe, while Standard Bank is the Presenting Sponsor of the event.

The Cape Town Fringewww.capetownfringe.co.za

Follow the Cape Town Fringe

  • Twitter @CTFringe
  • Facebook
  • Instagram @ctfringe

Please use the hashtag #CTFringe

Media contact

All media queries to:

Rabbit in a Hat Communications
Sascha Polkey
[email protected]
083 414 0552
021 300 0052