The festival first took shape in 1974 as a project of the Grahamstown Foundation and had a number of sponsors in its first few years.
Standard Bank took over as the main sponsor of the festival in 1984 and it became known as the Standard Bank National Arts Festival. Our title sponsorship agreement ended in 2001 but we decided to remain involved.
Standard Bank has been an integral part of the history and success of National Arts Festival over the years and was instrumental in securing the pride of place that the festival has enjoyed. In our belief that the festival should continue, we provided the base for other sponsors to become involved.
The festival is now simply called National Arts Festival and has developed its own brand and identity supported by a number of main sponsors.
However, we do continue our relationship with the festival as one of five sponsors. The others are: National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund; Eastern Cape Government; National Arts Council; and SABC.
