The Witness Hilton Arts Festival is entering its 19th year. It is the premier arts festival of KZN and one of the leading festivals in South Africa. Throughout its existence it has had generous business partners. We salute The Witness, Hilton College, Spar KZN, Nedbank, SA Breweries, Budget Car Rental, Black Coffee and a host of companies giving us support. Being a proudly KZN festival we are very grateful for the ongoing support of the KZN Department of Arts & Culture who regard us as their provincial platform. In the past, the festival has received significant funding from the National Lotteries Board and hopes to do so again. However, the difficultly in dealing with such bodies and extricating promised money from them is well documented in the national media. Such vagaries cause problems in the budgeting and planning of an annual festival.

The fact remains that the arts have, since time began, relied on the generosity of patrons. We have the de Medici family to thank for Michelangelo’s David, the Hapsburg emperors for Mozart’s music and Standard Bank for the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

We wish to invite you to become a patron of the arts, in this time honoured tradition, thus ensuring that the festival remains a high quality, enjoyable event for everyone and that the arts continue to flourish in KZN.

By becoming a Festival Friend at an annual cost of R5,000 (plus Vat) you will receive the following benefits:

• an advance format programme, by email only, before the official programme is released publically, enabling you to book in advance of the general public;
• 10% discount on 2 tickets per Main festival production booked, as specifically indicated in your advance format programme;
• a Festival Friend parking disc, to be displayed in your car so that you can be whisked through to a designated parking area;
• access to a brand new Festival Friends reception area throughout the course of the weekend, where there will be tea and coffee, comfortable seating, an escape from the madding crowd and the opportunity, at specified times, to meet some of the performers and directors. Leave all your craft market shopping here, instead of lugging it around with you!

You and/or your company will be listed in the programme and on the festival website as generous patron/s of the arts.

Please complete the membership form to join the prestigious ranks of the world’s art patrons!

Kind regards

Sue Clarence
Festival Director

Click here to download the PDF membership form