WS Chronicle

The National Black Theatre Festival® (NBTF) will once again be held in the City of the Arts, Winston-Salem, Monday, Aug. 1- Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. 

Officials with NBTF kicked off this historic festival on Monday, March 21, by  announcing celebrity co-chairs for this year’s festival, Lisa Arrindell and Petri Hawkins-Byrd. Officials were joined by city leaders including the mayor and others. 

The NBTF was postponed last year due to the pandemic. Creators are excited to bring  six consecutive days of professional theatre once again to Winston-Salem. Other components of the  festival include workshops, a reader’s theatre of new works, a film festival, a poetry jam,  a youth celebrity project, a vendor’s market, and The International Colloquium. 

Officials say over 60,000 people are expected to attend the event, along with celebrities  from stage, screen, and television. The event has more than a $13 million impact on the  economy of Winston-Salem, known as Black Theatre Holy Ground.

NBTF is the international outreach program of the North Carolina Black Repertory  Company. The festival has been held biennially since 1989 and attracts thousands of  national and international patrons, theatre professionals and scholars to Winston Salem. The National Black Theatre Festival was named A Top 20 Event by the  Southeast Tourism Society. 

For additional information and a schedule of events, visit www.nbtf.org or call the NBTF office at 336-723-2266 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday  through Friday.