Musical gods are unleashed in Mkhanda

Bespoke shows tell stories of jazz, soul and classics at this year's National Arts Festival. By S'bo Gyre

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The National Arts Festival (NAF) is under way in Makhanda from 26 June to 6 July and, as usual, the musical offering is the talk of the Eastern Cape town.

With performances from the likes of The Soil, the South African National Jazz Orchestra and Eastern Cape native Dumza Maswana, to name a few, the musical gods are descending on the little town that has become a mecca of South African artistic culture.

The curated programme includes Muneyi, who won the 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award for Music. He is sure to steal the show with two productions: The Beginning and Sip and Cry.

The former is a three-part sonic and visual journey. It weaves together work from Muneyi’s debut album, Makhulu, which is an ode to his grandmother, with unreleased pieces from upcoming projects. Sip and Cry is described as the artist presenting a “soft space to feel deeply and drink slowly”.