Talent search under way for arts festival

ORGANISERS of the Northern Arts Festival are again looking for the best talent in the city as auditions for the Sky’s the Limit talent search gets under way next week.

The talent search, held in the lead-up to the festival, aimed to give a platform to artists who might otherwise not have the opportunity to perform on stage, Sky’s the Limit coordinator William Paulson said.

Auditions are set to start on August 7 and continue until August 11 at various northern areas schools.

Once those are concluded, two elimination rounds will be used to select the cream of the crop.

Once that stage had been completed, Paulson said, semifinalists would attend workshops next month.

The semifinals take place on September 15 and the finals a week later.

The festival will be held on September 23 and 24.

“Our aim is to give young people a chance to put themselves out there, to give them an audience, and to give them the opportunity to network,” Paulson said.

Now in its 10th year, the festival will take place at Van der Kemp’s Kloof, Bethelsdorp, where the event was first held.

Paulson’s father, NAF festival director Billy Paulson, said a cultural display and a food fair were in the pipeline.

A church service was also planned, he said.

“What we want to do is have a combined service with all churches in the northern areas to pray for the young people.

“We want to remind them that there is so much more than violence and crime.

“We want to focus on positive things and give them more exposure.”