Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees
Encyclopedia
The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (Afrikaans for Little Karoo National Arts Festival and usually abbreviated to KKNK) is an Afrikaans language arts festival that takes place yearly in the South Africa
n town of Oudtshoorn
. The festival includes both the visual
and the performing arts
and is officially recognized by the South African government as a national arts festival. By number of visitors it is also the largest South African arts festival.
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
, Andrew Marais.
Annually the KKNK attracts more than 1000 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.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n town of Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn, Western Cape
Oudtshoorn is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. With 80,336 inhabitants it is the largest town in the Little Karoo region...
. The festival includes both the visual
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
and the performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
and is officially recognized by the South African government as a national arts festival. By number of visitors it is also the largest South African arts festival.
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
Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media and print media Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media (including pay-television, internet and instant-messaging subscriber...
, Andrew Marais.
Annually the KKNK attracts more than 1000 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.