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08 July 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Supplied
Vrystaat Arts Festival 2025
Come and experience the arts that make life meaningful at the 2025 Vrystaat Arts Festival from 15 to 19 July 2025 on the University of the Free State Bloemfontein Campus.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is proud to once again open its Bloemfontein Campus to one of South Africa’s most beloved cultural traditions – the Vrystaat Arts Festival – taking place from 15 to 19 July 2025. This year marks 25 years since the UFS first became a partner of the festival, a milestone that celebrates not only a rich artistic legacy but also a deep-rooted commitment to creativity, community, and connection.

Adding much significance this year is the presence of the UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Hester C. Klopper, who will be experiencing the festival for the very first time as part of the UFS community.

“It has been a quarter of a century of growth, togetherness, multi-faceted inspiration, and joyful celebration,” says Prof Klopper.

“This partnership … embodies our fundamental commitment to social impact and our belief that universities should be catalysts for cultural development and social cohesion.”

With theatre, literature, music, film, visual arts, interactive exhibitions, and a strong showing by UFS students and staff, the festival is a multi-sensory celebration of South African talent and thought.

A highlight of the programme is a tribute to Prof Nico Luwes, a beloved figure in Free State theatre and former Head of the UFS Department of Drama. Prof Klopper will also lead this year’s UFS Thought-Leader Panel Discussion on 17 July at 12:00, unpacking the theme ‘Reimagining Higher Education for Employability and Sustainability’ in the Albert Wessels Auditorium.

Two exciting book launches will further enrich the programme:

  • Thinking Through Food in South Africa: Identities, Embodiment and Representation co-edited by Prof Vasu Reddy, UFS Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, and Prof Lebo Moletsane from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (15 July), and

  • Research and Activism: Ruth First and Activist Research co-edited by Prof Saleem Badat, Research Professor in the UFS Department of History, and Prof Reddy (16 July).

As Prof Klopper reflects:

“This festival strengthens the bonds between our university and the broader Free State community, embodying the spirit of ubuntu that defines our institution.”

With fresh energy, familiar traditions, and a quarter-century of memories, the 2025 Vrystaat Arts Festival is set to be a celebration like no other.

 

Here are just some of the UFS contributions to this year’s festival:

 

Department of Drama

Die bruikbare idioot 
Verbode Gedagtes in Stereo
Rooikappie en die Drie Varkies 
Gebou soos Steffi Graf
The semblance of permanence
Willemien en Meraaitjie en Willie Wragtig die Troeteldrakie! 
Bielie 
Die Moedige Avonture van Prinses Petronella 
Harte-Bliksems 
Perspectives on Perspectives of Love 
The Masks 
 

 

Visual Arts

In Resonance 
Oh no! She swallowed a fly! 
Sticks and figures drawing workshop 

 

 

Literature 

Thinking Through Food in South Africa: Identities, Embodiment and Representation  
Henriette Grové, bekende dramaturg en prosaïs 
Sy word Sestig!  
Transponering van romans na dramas en/of films 
Van Egoli via 7de Laan tot in Binnelanders
Hulde aan die helde: Nico Luwes  
Research and Activism: Ruth First and Activist Research 
Spookstories van CJ Langenhoven 
Sprankelverse uit die oude doos 
 

 

Vlieks

Cleanse 
Echoes of the Land 
Sehlabelo 
Lag en Legende: ’n Wandeling deur die loopbaan van Tobie Cronjé  
 

 

Sci-ed

Sci-Ed interactive exhibits 
Sci-Ed Science Café 
Sci-Ed Science Café: Sterre en Planete 
Science@Dinner 
Science Show at Sci-Ed 
Sci-Ed Stargazing 
Wetenskapvertoning by Sci-Ed  
Make your bath bombs 
Make and launch your own parachute  
Make your own marshmallows 
Make your own rocket 
 

 

Planetarium

Bedreigings vir Aarde: satelliete, asteroïede en meer … 
Max Goes to the Moon 
Mysteries of your Brain 
Passport to the Universe / Ruimtevorms 
Threats to Earth: satellites, asteroids, and more … 
Wêrelde buite die Aarde 

Worlds Beyond Earth

Entrance tickets to the festival grounds and the theatre productions are already on sale at Webtickets 

Come and experience the arts that make life meaningful.

News Archive

Researcher at Qwaqwa Campus, Dr Aliza le Roux, selected as SAYAS member
2014-09-12

 

Dr Aliza le Roux

Dr Aliza le Roux, senior lecturer in the Department of Zoology and Entomology on the Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was selected as a member of the 2014 South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS). Dr Le Roux, a member of the Vice-Chancellor's Prestige Scholars Programme at the UFS, is also a South African National Research Foundation-rated (NRF) scientist (Y2) and the winner of the UFS Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2013.

She sees her selection to SAYAS as a unique opportunity to help change the face of science in South Africa. Dr Le Roux hopes to use her skills as project leader in social media, as well as her own learning experiences on a rural campus, to inspire especially ecological research in a country so rich in its own natural heritage.

The SAYAS selection committee was impressed by the high level of academic merit and depth of the nominations they received. “Your membership is critical in contributing to many of the vital activities and functioning of SAYAS, and we look forward to your active contributions to the further development and growth of the Young Academy,” said Prof Aldo Stroebel, Chair: SAYAS Selection Committee.

Prof Corli Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research at the UFS, said, “Aliza le Roux is an outstanding young scientist on our Qwaqwa Campus. She is not only an outstanding researcher but has also received prizes during the past year for her dedication to teaching. I am very excited about the young researchers on our Qwaqwa Campus with Aliza as one of the leaders, and I am looking forward to what else they can achieve in the next five years.”

In the past decade, Dr Le Roux focused her research on the cognitive and communicative skills of wild mammals in South Africa and Ethiopia. She spent four years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, leading to ground-breaking research on the cognitive and communicative underpinnings of gelada monkey behaviour. Her current work encompasses an NRF-funded project on paternal care in bat-eared foxes, and experimental research on spatial cognition in wild samango monkeys. She is also involved in discussions with the Endangered Wildlife Trust to research the mitigation of road-kill incidents in South Africa.

Dr Le Roux hopes to combine cognitive ecology with more applied conservation questions in order to raise the profile of behavioural ecology as a discipline. She believes strongly in involving the public with scientific research, and has blogged for Nature Magazine on her adventures as field biologist. Her work has since found its way into numerous websites, magazine and newspaper articles and she has been interviewed on radio and BBC World.

Dr Le Roux will be inaugurated as SAYAS member on 14 October 2014.

Dr Marieka Gryzenhout from the Department of Plant Sciences is also a member of SAYAS.


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