FEDA is a celebration of student work in both Published and Original sections. It was started in 2004 by Janet Baylis as the “Crawford Invitational One Act Play Festival” and was held at the Theatre on the Square beginning with three plays. In 2012  Phillipa Sandilands joined as co- director  and the festival was officially registered as FEDA (2013/050047/07) and moved to the Joburg Lesedi Theatre.

Janet Baylis and Phillipa Sandilands are both drama teachers and theatre lovers who have recognised the need to listen to student stories. 

FEDA’s mission is to nurture and celebrate young theatre makers of the future.

Run and self-funded for 15 years, FEDA has grown from a festival that showcased just a few schools, to our current situation in 2025 where we have watched over 60 plays performed by about 50 schools from all over Johannesburg and the surrounding areas and had over 250 000 impressions on social media. 

FEDA is highly recognised by schools and it is considered a great honour to receive recognition from our Festival. Most schools consider FEDA an Honours award and worthy of an Honours Blazer