PRESS: Fiëstas 2025 nominees announced

kykNET

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The kykNET Fiëstas have annually honoured exceptional achievements in the performing arts since 2011, giving recognition to productions showcased at Afrikaans arts festivals in the preceding year.  

Stinkhout - Photo by Gys Loubser.

In 2024, the Fiëstas panel attended seven arts festivals – KKNK, Suidoosterfees, Innibos, Vrystaat Kunstefees, Klein-Karoo Klassique, Momentum Beleggings Aardklop and Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees – to watch all the debut productions on the programme. Following an extensive voting process, verified by auditors, the nominees in the fourteen categories were determined.

“2024 was a remarkable year of storytelling and stirring emotions,” says Carmen Botma, convenor of the Fiëstas panel. “Whether an attendee found themselves in the audience of an open-air concert, standing before an artwork, experiencing hidden emotions during a theatrical production, participating in a panel discussion, or closing their eyes during a musical performance – thanks to artists, festivalgoers had access to another world, could escape reality, or identify with the creative art before them. For that, we on the panel are deeply grateful.”  

Here are the nominees for the kykNET Fiëstas for the 2024 festival year:  

Stinkhout - Photo by Gys Loubser.

BEST ACTOR

Chris van Niekerk – Die stoele (KKNK)

Joshwin Dyson – Laaitie mettie biscuits (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Frank Opperman – Stinkhout (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Theo Witbooi – Die Swartmerrie (KKNK)

BEST ACTRESS

Anna-Mart van der Merwe – Speelgoed van glas (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Cintaine Schutte – Onder ’n bloedrooi hemel (Suidoosterfees)

Crystal Donna Roberts – Poppie in the Dunes(Suidoosterfees)

Rolanda Marais – Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Albert Pretorius – Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Deon Lotz – Onder ’n bloedrooi hemel (Suidoosterfees)

Gerben Kamper – Ons wag vir Godot (Vrystaat Kunstefees)

Oscar Petersen – Poppie in the Dunes (Suidoosterfees)

BEST NEW TEXT

Christo Davids – Laaitie mettie biscuits (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Neil Coppen and Tiffany Saterdaght – Die Swartmerrie(KKNK)

Philip Rademeyer – Stinkhout (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Johann Slabbert – Vier Panado’s en ’n Chardonnay (KKNK)

BEST ADAPTATION OR TRANSLATION OF A TEXT

Christiaan Olwagen – Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Naòmi Morgan – Ons wag vir Godot (Vrystaat Kunstefees)

Nerina Ferreira (posthumous) – Die stoele (KKNK)

Nico Scheepers – ’n Begin (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Speelgoed van glas - Photo by Gys Loubser.

BEST DIRECTION

Christiaan Olwagen – Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Dion van Niekerk – Ons wag vir Godot (Vrystaat Kunstefees)

Nico Scheepers – Speelgoed van glas (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Marthinus Basson – Kruispad of die legende van die goue vis(Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DESIGN

Iman Isaacs – Poppie in the Dunes (Suidoosterfees)

Marí Borstlap – Onder ’n bloedrooi hemel (Suidoosterfees)

Philip Rademeyer – Stinkhout (Momemtum Beleggings Aardklop)

Rocco Pool – Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

BEST FESTIVAL PRODUCTION

Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Speelgoed van glas (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Stinkhout (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Die Swartmerrie (KKNK)

BEST ENSEMBLE

Hedda Gabler (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Kruispad of die legende van die goue vis (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Ons wag vir Godot (Vrystaat Kunstefees)

Speelgoed van glas (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Hedda Gabler - Photo by Jeremeo le Cordeur.

BEST CONTEMPORARY MUSIC PRODUCTION:

Jazz at the Konserve: Ramon Alexander Trio (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Frieda van den Heever: Spoorsny (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Legendes-konsert (Innibos)

Musikale Meander (Innibos)

BEST MUSIC-DRIVEN THEATRE

André Schwartz: My keuse (Suidoosterfees)

Ontban (Suidoosterfees)

-loos (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop en Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Vier Panando’s en ’n Chardonnay (KKNK)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Charl du Plessis Trio: Rhapsody in Blue (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Charl du Plessis Trio: Vivaldi Vier Seisoene (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Die groot finale (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Operagala (Suidoosterfees)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL ARTS

Colbert Mashile – The Dreams of Yonder, Untethered (KKNK)

Jessica Webster – ’n Perd sonder naam (Momentum Beleggings Aardklop)

Marlene Steyn – Between my i’s: tussen my oë (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Miné Kleynhans, curator of LANDscape(s): Artworks from the MAPSA Collection of Contemporary Art (Vrystaat Kunstefees)

BEST UPCOMING ARTIST

Damian David Jacobs – Set in Motion (Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees)

Joshwin Dyson – Laaitie mettie biscuits (Momentum Beleggins Aardklop)

Katelynne Matthews – Khanya and Her Golden Dream(Vrystaat Kunstefees)

Miché van Wyk for the text of Suurdeeg (Suidoosterfees)

This year’s Fiëstas awards ceremony will take place on 27 February at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town. The event is exclusively for nominees and other key stakeholders and will not be broadcast live. However, segments will be filmed for various kykNET programmes.