​​A violin made of indigenous African wood, a para-athlete with big dreams and a closer look at the history and future of Pinotage. These three stories, each with a diverse origin, form part of this year's Woordfees-programme, which will be broadcast on DStv channel 150 from 1 to 7 October this year.

The inserts were produced by Stellenbosch University's (SU) Division of Corporate Communications and Marketing and shine a spotlight on a variety of activities at SU and the Stellenbosch area.

It was filmed in a lifestyle show format, with Vicky Davis, an SU alumna, actress and TV personality known for programmes like 7de Laan and Pasella, as presenter.

Davis says it was great to be involved in the project. “It's always good to visit Stellenbosch and see first-hand the pioneering work and projects that different departments at SU are working on. But it was especially nice to meet the people behind the scenes, because we have been largely isolated from people over the past year," says Davis.

“And," she adds in reference to The story of Pinotage, “it's never awful to go and do research on wine farms!"

The first insert, Indigenous wood plays first violin, focuses on the Department of Forestry and Wood Science's project to test indigenous African tone wood for sound quality. The wood scientist Prof Martina Meincken, herself a music lover, launched the project. The camera crew visited her department as well as the Department of Music to hear the instrument's sound.

The story of Joshua van Staden, a theology student and athlete at the High-Performance Sports Unit, is told in Perseverance wins the day. Van Staden currently holds the South African records in shotput and javelin in the F41 category for athletes with dwarfism. Davis talks to him about his childhood, visits his mother in Athlone in Cape Town, and gets to see him in action on the training grounds at Coetzenburg.

And finally, in The story of Pinotage, role players in the wine industry – from Beyerskloof, Lanzerac and also SU's Department of Viticulture and Oenology – talks about the setbacks and highlights of this unique South African cultivar over the years, and what the future may hold. Pinotage is made from a grape variety that Prof Abraham Izak Perold of SU created in his garden almost 100 years ago, so of course they taste it!

The inserts are between 7 and 9 minutes long.

The Toyota SU Woordfees is presented in a new format exclusively on TV this year, but as with previous years, it promises to be a highlight for theatre, music and art lovers. This year it also features a lifestyle component.

Click here for more information. Broadcast dates and times (see below) are subject to change.

Indigenous wood plays first violin

• Sat 2 October, 08:54
• Sun 3 October, 17:51

Perseverance wins the day

• Mon 4 October, 08:03

The story of Pinotage

• Mon 4 October, 14:24