The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

for ''

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent i ...

National Arts Festival'' and usually abbreviated to ''KKNK'') is an Afrikaans language arts festival that takes place yearly in the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n town of

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ) is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Dubbed the "ostrich capital of the world", Oudtshoorn is known for its ostric ...

. The festival includes both the

visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

and the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and is officially recognized by the South African government as a national arts festival. Based on the number of visitors, it is also the largest South African arts festival.

History

The first festival took place in 1994 and was the idea of a businessman from Oudtshoorn, Nic Barrow, and a former Public Relations Manager for the South African publishing firm

Naspers Naspers Limited (until 1998 Die Nasionale Pers) is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town. The company has interests in online retail, publishing, real estate, and ventu ...

, Andrew Marais. Annually the KKNK attracts more than 1,000 artists performing or exhibiting in more than 200 productions and exhibitions over eight days; usually at the end of March or the beginning of April. The festival has come to play a central role in Afrikaans stage productions - new productions are usually first staged at the KKNK and are then performed throughout the rest of South Africa during the rest of the year. Economically the KKNK has been a source of growth for the town and its surrounding region, with many private individuals and institutions benefitting from renting out accommodation, halls and grounds during the festival.

References

External links

KKNK Official Website
Arts festivals in South Africa {{southAfrica-stub

History

See also

References

External links