Toyota SU Woordfees TV 2022
Get ready to go wild – at home and under the oaks
The theme for the 2022 Toyota SU Woordfees arts festival is Wild – a playful concept that festival director, Saartjie Botha, says has her “bubbling over with enthusiasm for the two festivals that Woordfees will be celebrating this year after two years of national anxiety and frustration both in and about the arts environment”.
“You go wild”, says Botha, “when you no longer have anything left to lose or hide; when you want to tear away from fear and reservation. Sometimes it is precisely what is needed to inject new courage and breath into life and give it new meaning. 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.
“Our festival this year may be smaller but it will happen with renewed spirit on two different platforms: nationally, on DStv and on GOtv (Namibia only) from 15 - 28 July, and from 10 - 16 October in Stellenbosch – a day longer than initially planned.”
Given the success of Woordfees TV 2021 (the first ever arts festival to take place on a DStv pop-up channel which was broadcast from 1 to 10 October), MultiChoice will once again make a channel available for Woordfees TV 2022, and this time for 14 full days. Last year’s TV festival was initially planned for 7 days, but was extended for an extra weekend due to popular demand.
“We’re 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,” says Gideon Khobane MultiChoice Group Executive of General Entertainment.
In 2021, only subscribers to DStv Premium and DStv Compact Plus packages had access to the Woordfees TV pop-up channel. This year, DStv Compact and DStv Family customers will also be able to experience Woordfees TV. This means that a significantly larger audience will be able to enjoy the warmth and excitement of the festival in their own homes.
The festival TV programme will again this year offer most of the genres that are usually part of the live festival: books and writers, drama, contemporary and classical music, stand-up comedy, lifestyle, discussion, visual arts and dance. Agriculture will also be part of this year’s line-up. Repeats of some of the most popular 2021 TV festival programmes will be broadcast in non-primetime slots. New programmes specially produced for 2022, will be available on DStv CatchUp.
In collaboration with the Words Open Worlds (WOW) Project, the festival programme will also include educational elements and a spelling competition.All narrative content and discussions will have English subtitles.The programme content and broadcast times for Woordfees TV will be made available in the media on 21 June 2022.
Toyota SU Woordfees TV 2022 will be broadcast from 15 to 28 July on DStv Channel 150. Visit woordfees.co.za and follow Woordfees on social media for all the latest information about the festival.
FAQs:
What is the Woordfees TV pop-up channel?
It’s the first first ever arts festival aired over two weeks from 15 to 28 July 2022 on a DStv pop-up channel. Woordfees TV brings all the variety and vibrancy of one of South Africa’s biggest arts festivals, the Stellenbosch-based Toyota SU Woordfees, to television for one week.
What content can viewers look forward to?
The content has been specifically curated to reflect the interests that Woordfees festival goers enthusiastically support at the festival, overing a broad range of genres: writers and books, theatre, dance, lifestyle, stand-up comedy, contemporary and classical music, film, and visual arts, with a strong focus on quality-Afrikaans books, theatre, music and film. The five most popular genres are writers’ festival, theatre, contemporary music, classical music and stand-up comedy.
When will Woordfees TV launch?
Woordfees TV is a pop-up channel and will be available exclusively from 15 to 28 July 2022.
Which DStv Channel will Woordfees TV be available on?
Woordfees TV will be available on DStv Channel 150 in South Africa
On which DStv bouquets will the channel be available?
Woordfees TV will be available on the following packages in South Africa: Premium, Compact Plus, Compact and Family provided your subscription is active.
Will the pop-up channel be in HD and SD?
The content will be in HD and SD.
What is the Woordfees TV channel all about?
Celebrating the performing, visual, and literary arts in South Africa.
Do I need to register to get access to this new channel?
No. The channel will automatically be available to DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact and Family subscribers, as well as GOtv Max and Supa subscribers in Namibia. DStv subscribers in Namibia will, however, not have access on the Family bouquet.
Do I need to pay an access fee?
No. This channel will be available at no extra cost.
How many hours of content can I expect from this channel?
The channel will run for 24 hours daily for 14 days, from 15 to 28 July.
What programmes can we expect on Woordfees TV Channel?
Theatre, writers and books, dance, stand-up comedy, classical and contemporary music, film, discourse, lifestyle and educational shows with Words Open Worlds (WOW).
Will Woordfees TV be available in all markets?
No, Woordees TV will be available to DStv customers in the IS20 and E36 regions, i.e. South Africa and Namibia.
What languages will Woordfees TV broadcast in?
Woordfees TV broadcasts predominantly in Afrikaans but the programme also includes shows in English. All Afrikaans narrative works, such as plays and discussion, will have English subtitles.
Is Woordfees TV for the whole family?
Yes, Woordfees TV has a wide variety of programmes that cater to the whole family including theatre, books, art, dance, discussion, education, music and much more. A few of the plays and films have adult content which will be indicated in the programme schedule.
Why is MultiChoice launching this new pop-up channel?
This pop-up channel allows 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 this already popular festival.
Will I be able to view the pop-up channel online via DStv Now?
Yes – the channel will be available to watch via DStv Now.
What if I am not a DStv subscriber and want to watch the pop-up channel?
You can buy a subscription for the month of July and you have two options.
Download and watch later
Get the DStv app (Apple, Android or Huawei) and download episodes to watch on your phone or tablet – just remember to connect to the Wi-Fi first so there are no surprise data costs.
