(Grahamstown) – Standard Bank has renewed their sponsorship of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, one of the country’s longest and highest profile sponsorship investments, for a further three years. Standard Bank’s partnership with the iconic event will run until the end of 2020.

Ayanda Mjekula National Arts Festival Chairman, Hazel Chimhandamba Head of Group Sponsorship for Standard Bank, Tony Lankester CEO of the National Arts Festival, Dianne Graney Sponsorship Manager Standard Bank, Ashraf Johaardien Executive Producer of the National Arts Festival: SA Good News.

“Our partnership extends back to 1984 and has endured ever since – most recently as the title sponsor of both the Jazz Festival and the Young Artist Awards, two flagship properties in the Festival stable,” National Arts Festival CEO Tony Lankester said. “The new agreement will see a deepening of the existing relationship, will bring a new project to life, and will help reinvigorate an established project.”

From 2018, in addition to their sponsorship of the Jazz and Young Artist Awards, Standard Bank are partnering on the creation of a new mini Festival that focuses on the digital arts and “the spaces where technology and the arts converge,” Lankester said. “Technology is changing the way we experience art, and it is giving artists new freedoms in the way they create and promote their work. Grahamstown is the perfect place to explore this new digital frontier, and it will add a whole new dimension to the National Arts Festival.”

Standard Bank will also be acquiring the naming rights to the Festival’s new Craft Market as it moves to its new home and undergoes a facelift, Lankester said. Among the changes planned for the market are the introduction of performance spaces; extended trading hours for the popular beer tent on certain nights; a layout redesign; the inclusion of visual artists in the market precinct; and a greater emphasis on children’s entertainment and activities. “We’re working with our various partners, including some of the traders and crafters to design the new market. Standard Bank’s investment will give the market a solid business partner, while also giving us the space to create a unique and memorable experience for our visitors,” he added.

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