Gallery Update
GEORGE NEWS - The Christmas lights at the top of York Street will shine for the duration of the Garden Route Eisteddfod in keeping with an old theatre tradition to leave the stage lights on while a show is running.
Over 3 000 entries were received for this year's eisteddfod, with participants from all over the region.
The opening event at the George Arts Theatre on Monday evening treated guests to a creative blend of performances by musicians, dancers and singers, and a thought-provoking speech by the organisers of the event, the sisters Lizette Gerber and Alida Gerber-Lategan:
"Once the theatre becomes your playground, you somehow always end up at its doors. These doors will always be open to the dreamers, the artists, the rebels, the provokers of thought. The broken, the lost, the lonely.
"It welcomes you back with its eerie splendour and an all-too-familiar smell, with a feeling of greatness and inspiration, a simple reminder of your obligation to your art.... Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves and to explore what is possible."
The eisteddfod officially kicked off on Tuesday 16 August with vocal and instrumental entrees who will be performing at the Dutch Reformed Church Denneoord until 30 August.
PHOTO GALLERY: Garden Route Eisteddfod is on!
Dance items will take place at the Civic Centre (20 to 26 August), with drama items performed at the Dutch Reformed Church Blanco (27 to 31 August) and Dutch Reformed Church Denneoord (1 and 2 September).
A visual arts exhibition will be held at the Civic Centre on 26 August and a creative writing event on 3 September at the Dutch Reformed Church Denneoord.
The adjudicators of the various art genres are Jacques de Villiers, better known as "Josua na die reën" (vocal), Philippus Hugo (instrumental), Sidwell Roman and Mooky Mabala Frank (dance), Hein Botha and Ruan Redelinghuys (visual arts) and Desiré Gardner (creative writing).
Entrance fee to view the performances is R10 per session (from one adjudication to the next) and a programme costs R10.
Previous article: Garden Route Eisteddfod is here!
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