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The historic South African town of Grahamstown was founded as a British fort in 1820 during the fierce frontier wars with the Xhosa tribes in what is now the Eastern Cape. In that year, twenty-four ships from England left for Algoa Bay, their passengers lured by promises of free passage and prime agricultural land. Upon arrival, however, they learned that the Zuurveld wasn't called the Sour Land for nothing. Moreover, they discovered they were to be a buffer between the warlike black tribes and the newly entrenched European colony. The new arrivals duly swelled the colonial population until gold and diamonds were discovered inland and the town's improving fortunes proved to be a flash in someone else's pan. Today, Grahamstown's place on the map is assured by two things: Rhodes University and the Standard Bank National Festival of the Arts held every year in July. Little-known Grahamstown is a fitting setting for what started out as a celebration of South Africa's English heritage only to become Africa's largest Arts Festival. This is an event with a capital 'E'. Only the Edinburgh Festival is bigger. Upon arrival, the visitor could be in any 19th century English university town. Victorian houses, Gothic cathedrals, settler cottages and old English pubs help stage-manage the illusion. The erstwhile 1820 Settlers Monument squats in monolithic sandstone above the city, much like Edinburgh Castle. There are other similarities between this African festival city and its more famous European cousin. Edinburgh's past is mirrored in its twisted cobbled streets; the unlikely stairs that erupt from innocent street corners and the arches and statues that adorn preserved Victorian tenements. Replace the cobbles with streets wide enough to turn an ox-wagon and you've got Grahamstown. Known as the City of Saints for its many churches, the High Street is dominated by the Cathedral of St Michael and St George. The spire is the largest structure for miles around; its only rival, the giant pineapple in nearby Bathurst which leaves any sightseer in no doubt as to the principal farming crop in these parts. | 
