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G'town Arts Fest

The last time I was at the Grahamstown Arts Festival was in 1999. This time, ten years later I decided to do the famous G'town Arts Fest; this is arguably the biggest arts festival in Africa.A few things have remained unchanged since the last time I was there: for one, the street kids are still sprinkled all over the place; the free concert venue at the back of the City Hall is still there. On my visit to the stalls at the Village Green, I found the place desolate. Upon enquiry it turned out that this year there were two areas earmarked for trading, and this arrangement disadvantaged other traders. It would appear to me that the festival has two faces: one white and another black. The latter is represented by mainly foreign nationals from the African continent, local people from such areas as Joza etc, who after trading hours huddle in makeshift tents for a night's rest. These are the people who for some reason or other miss out on an opportunity to trade where the lucrative market is situated. The other face of the festival trades to the west of the city. This face also pays for the shows on offer. It is the face that watches the "main" festival and not so much the "fringe".

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