by Thinus Ferreira
After a successful debut in October 2021 as a local arts TV channel, as TVwithThinus reported in April, the Stellenbosch Woordfees will once again be running as a MultiChoice pop-up channel on DStv in July 2022, this time from 15 July for two weeks and with the pop-up channel made available to more pay-TV subscribers in South Africa and Namibia.
With the theme of "Wild", the 2022 Toyota SU Woordfees, will showcase a selection of programming from 15 to 28 July for DStv subscribers in South Africa and Namibia on DStv channel 150 (as well as GOtv subscribers in Namibia), while the physical arts festival will be taking place from 10 to 16 October in Stellenbosch.
MultiChoice is also making the 2022 Woordfees DStv pop-up channel available to more subscribers.
Last year only DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus subscribers had access, but in July the DStv pop-up channel is being made available to DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers in South Africa as well.
In Namibia, DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers. In Namibia, GOtv Max and GOtv Supa subscribers will also get access to the 2022 Woordfees TV channel on channel 27.
Speaking about the "Wild" theme, Saartjie Botha, Woordfees festival director, says "Wild is authentic and essential for the kind of art that challenges everything and opens doors to new perspectives. Nothing is wilder and more liberating than the imagination, and our pent-up creative energies are ready to gush forth after two years of limbo".
Gideon Khobane, MultiChoice Group general entertainment executive, says the pay-TV operator is "proud to again be associated with Woordfees TV - not only does the channel allow us to bring entertainment relevant to our customers, it also aligns to our commitment to support and grow local content".
"By giving our Afrikaans viewers access to the Woordfees festival through the channel we are able to support arts, culture, entertainment and literature by broadening the audience of the already popular festival."
The Woordfees TV schedule will again give DStv subscribers a selection of most of the genres that are usually part of the live festival, ranging from the Easy Equity books and writers festival, drama, contemporary music with the Toyota Big Five concerts and Standard Bank jazz set, classical music, the Savanna stand-up comedy series, the Stellenbosch Wine Routes lifestyle programme, and Media24 discussion series, as well as Strauss & Co visual arts programme and dance.
The Standard Bank agriculture series will also be part of this year's line-up, while rebroadcasts of some of the most popular 2021 TV festival shows will be shown during slots outside of prime time on the channel.
In addition, new programmes of the 2022 Woordfees TV channel will be available on DStv Catch Up. All of the narrative content and pre-recorded discussion programmes on the DStv pop-up channel will have English subtitles.
