Riky Rick’s Cotton Fest Awards 3 AFDA Students Bursaries

The Cotton Fest team recently launched the Cotton Fest Creative program founded by the late Riky Rick, to give back to the students in the community while creating outlets to empower young creatives to succeed in their studies and career. 

Considering Riky himself was a former AFDA student, the team decided to further build on his legacy by creating a platform to support creative students in year one. The programme selected three top AFDA students from the AFDA Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban campuses awarding them bursaries. Cotton Fest and its long-standing partner, PUMA, fund the bursaries to cover the shortfall of their tuition fees and assist them in graduating.  

“We are extremely excited to have the privilege to assist young people achieve this huge milestone in their educational journey,” said Riky’s partner Bianca Naidoo. “When we started Cotton Fest, the idea was not just to have a once off concert, but to do so much more for the culture as a whole, and moreover offer support within the community. Now with the additional financial injection from PUMA this year, we were finally able to make the Cotton Fest Creative Programme a reality and action this support.”

The programme is set to run annually and welcomes the support of other corporates and financial institutions to step in and assist.

Cotton Fest celebrates South African talent by bringing together a high-octane line up of local artists, musicians, rappers, and DJs. Founded by the late rapper Riky Rick, the festival boasts three stages: The Cotton Stage featuring headline acts, the Bettr Stage dedicated to New Wave young talent, and the Jägermeister Stage promoting the best of house, electronic and Amapiano music.