The Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival of 1952 was the three hundred year anniversary of the landing at the Cape of Jan van Riebeeck and with it the founding of what would later lead to the Cape Colony and then the Union of South Africa.
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Quick guide to Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival
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The Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival of 1952 was the three hundred year anniversary of the landing at the Cape of Jan van Riebeeck and with it the founding of what would later lead to the Cape Colony and then the Union of South Africa.
01 · What it is
Living Tradition
Documented cultural tradition on record; family classification awaits an editor.
02 · Where & name
South Africa
Written in its own script on record as Van Riebeeckfees.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chapter Takeaways
BackgroundThe Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival took the same form as the previous folk festivals when it received generous state support.
Van Riebeeck Festival Art ExhibitionThe festival also provided a cross section of South African artists active at the time (1952).
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival in plain words?
The Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival of 1952 was the three hundred year anniversary of the landing at the Cape of Jan van Riebeeck and with it the founding of what would later lead to the Cape Colony and then the Union of South Africa. In local script on record, it is written Van Riebeeckfees.
Where is Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival practised or documented?
Sources on this page place Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival in South Africa.
What is the current condition of Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival entry?
Cite as: "Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/van-riebeeck-tercentenary-festival, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
The Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival of 1952 was the three hundred year anniversary of the landing at the Cape of Jan van Riebeeck and with it the founding of what would later lead to the Cape Colony and then the Union of South Africa. The festival included exhibitions from several local fields of activity.
It was one of the three biggest festivals in South Africa in the twentieth century, together with the Simboliese Ossewatrek in 1938 and the inauguration of the Voortrekker Monument in 1949. The festival's slogan was: "We are building a nation" and the central thought for the celebrations: "South Africa after three hundred years." 1
Background
The Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival took the same form as the previous folk festivals when it received generous state support. The central festival committee was chaired by dr. Abraham van der Merwe, co-teacher of the Groote Kerk in Cape Town for almost 40 years, elected moderator five times in a row by the Cape Synod and chairman of the first General Synod in 1962. Local festivals all over the country had to prepare the way for the central celebration in Cape Town. Before this, mail coaches, drawn by teams of horses, from the corners of the country undertook long journeys to Cape Town.
The idea was taken from the Simboliese Ossewatrek when the bullock carts moved to Pretoria for the laying of the cornerstone of the Voortrekker Monument 14 years before. The prime minister, dr. D.F. Malan, opened the proceedings with the departure of the first coach at Ohrigstad, the farthest point where the Voortrekkers originally settled. Along the way, the different communities each held their own festival, but unlike in 1938, it also involved English speakers and not just Afrikaans speakers. In several places, colored communities also took their place in the celebrations. 1
Van Riebeeck Festival Art Exhibition
The festival also provided a cross section of South African artists active at the time (1952). 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival is cultural festival in South Africa, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. 2