For 25 years, the University of the Free State (UFS) and the
Vrystaat Arts Festival have partnered on the shared belief that universities and the arts play a vital role in shaping society. As one of the festival's founding sponsors and institutional partners, the university helped establish the conditions that enabled the festival to take root in Bloemfontein. From its early years as the Volksblad-kunstefees to its evolution into today's Vrystaat Arts Festival, the institution has remained central to the festival's growth, development, and public value.
For Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, “This enduring partnership demonstrates that universities create their greatest impact when research, innovation, culture, and community engagement work in concert. The Vrystaat Arts Festival creates a powerful platform where scholarship becomes public, knowledge becomes accessible, and communities become active partners in learning.”
A partnership with lasting impact
Over the past quarter-century, the partnership has evolved beyond sponsorship and campus hosting into a strategic collaboration that connects scholarship, creativity, innovation, and community engagement. Today, it serves as a public extension of the university's academic mission, bringing together researchers, artists, students, alumni, and communities through literature, language, science, history, identity, memory, and the arts to co-create responsible societal futures.
The university's footprint in the 2026 festival reflects the breadth of this enduring relationship. Alongside thought-provoking academic discussions and literary conversations, festivalgoers can engage with interactive science experiences presented by the Sci-Ed Science Education Centre, astronomy programmes through the Planetarium and Boyden Observatory, visual arts exhibitions, interdisciplinary performances, and creative projects supported by the
International Institute of the Arts. Together, these initiatives demonstrate how the university continues to make knowledge accessible through public engagement while creating opportunities for learning beyond the classroom.
The festival also showcases the enduring contribution of UFS graduates and academics to South Africa's creative and cultural landscape. Alumni appearing in this year's programme include Hannes van Wyk, Amanda Strydom, Carel Nel, Wilhelm van der Walt, Gerben Kamper, Ilne Fourie, Jane Mpholo, and Jefferson J Dirks-Korkee, among many others. Within the Literature Festival, UFS-linked academics and authors, including Prof Hennie van Coller and Dr Francois Smith, further reinforce the university's reputation as a centre of literary scholarship, public dialogue, and intellectual leadership.
Looking ahead through partnership
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Prof Hester C. Klopper says the anniversary reflects a partnership built on shared purpose and mutual growth.
"This year marks a milestone that we hold with gratitude: twenty-five years of this festival's existence in the Free State, and twenty-five years of the University of the Free State's enduring presence as an institutional partner."
The partnership continues to reflect the university's commitment to making knowledge, creativity, and culture accessible beyond the classroom, while strengthening connections between the university and the communities it serves.
Prof Reddy echoes these views, observing, “Universities must be spaces where imagination meets evidence. Through collaborations such as this, we connect research excellence with cultural vitality and social impact. For 25 years, this partnership has shown how creativity, scholarship, and innovation can strengthen civic life while nurturing talent, dialogue, the shared stories we hold, and belonging."
As the university and the Vrystaat Arts Festival celebrate 25 years of collaboration, the partnership continues to demonstrate how higher education and the arts can inspire learning, strengthen communities, cultivate talent, and create meaningful public value. It also affirms that the most enduring university partnerships are those that enrich not only campus life, but also the cultural, intellectual, and civic life of the communities they serve.
The UFS at the 2026 Vrystaat Arts Festival
Celebrating 25 years of partnership
The university's contribution to this year's festival includes the following:
- Founding sponsor and institutional partner since the festival's establishment in Bloemfontein.
- Public scholarship and thought leadership through UFS-led academic discussions, literature events, and public dialogue.
- Sci-Ed Science Education Centre interactive science experiences for learners, families, and festivalgoers.
- Planetarium and Boyden Observatory astronomy programmes and science engagement activities.
- International Institute of the Arts projects connecting artistic practice, research, innovation, and community engagement.
- More than 130 UFS students employed across technical production, logistics, hospitality, marketing, administration, front-of-house, and festival operations.
- More than 60 UFS students participating in theatre, music, visual arts, interdisciplinary performance, and public engagement.
- Strong UFS alumni representation across theatre, literature, music, visual arts, and creative industries.
- A significant UFS literary footprint, with academics, authors, and research fellows contributing to the Literature Festival.
- A shared commitment to responsible societal futures through scholarship, creativity, culture, and community engagement.