Events & Festivals in South Africa

Thousands of minstrels in neon suits flood Cape Town 's streets every January. The Kaapse Klopse isn't just South Africa's most visually spectacular street celebration, it is pure controlled chaos. Banjos twang, feet stomp, voices rise in harmony as troupes weave past the Company's Garden toward Green Point. This riot of colour began in the 1800s. Cape Malay rhythms met African-American gospel, and something new was born. Today you'll see grandmothers in feathered headdresses dancing beside toddlers in matching satin. The parade route, once a slave New Year's tradition, now defines Cape Town 's cultural identity.

Design Indaba, Africa's leading creativity conference, packs Cape Town 's convention centre with excellent designers, architects, filmmakers, and thinkers for three straight days. Inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, and exhibitions run back-to-back. The Expo floors overflow with hundreds of South African design talents. If contemporary African culture interests you, this is where you'll see it being built in real time.

Ultra South Africa doesn't just borrow the brand, it owns it. Cape Town and Johannesburg host back-to-back weekends of the same mega-stage that spins a rotating LED beast above 50,000 fans. International headliners drop tracks while the structure shifts, lights flare, and the whole outdoor field becomes one moving, breathing dance floor.

35,000 cyclists. One start gun. The Cape Town Cycle Tour throws you onto a 109-kilometre loop around the Cape Peninsula, no bunching, every rider on the clock. You'll skirt Chapman's Peak, drop into Hout Bay, and ride coastlines that stare down both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The scenery is impressive, the atmosphere electric, and March brings Cape Town weather at its sunniest, mildest best.

Five stages. One venue. The Cape Town International Convention Centre erupts for two nights as Africa's greatest jazz festival, nicknamed 'Africa's Woodstock', brings South African legends shoulder-to-shoulder with international headliners. Over 37,000 attendees flood the halls, chasing an unmatched celebration that sweeps through jazz, blues, soul, and Afrobeat without pause. Critics keep it among the top things to do in South Africa in Cape Town.

56 kilometres of Cape Peninsula road, no race prettier. The Two Oceans bills itself as the world's most beautiful marathon, and it is. Easter Saturday's cool morning air pulls both elite athletes and thousands of club runners past the Atlantic and Indian oceans. They climb dramatic Constantia Nek, then skirt Chapman's Peak. Many call this Africa's most scenic race. They're right.

More than 200 productions cram into Oudtshoorn for one week each Easter. The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival turns this small Karoo town into the premier Afrikaans arts festival on earth. Theatre, cabaret, music, dance, stand-up comedy, visual arts, every corner becomes a stage. Artists and audiences flood in from across South Africa and beyond.

60,000 people. One long weekend. Sandringham Estate, Stellenbosch, Africa's biggest food festival doesn't mess around. Three days over Easter, the Winelands become a playground for cheese obsessives, wine hunters, and beer nerds. Hundreds of producers line up their wheels, bottles, and loaves. Local charcuterie, craft beer, bread, it's all here. The setting? Idyllic. The mission? Show off South Africa's booming artisan cheese scene and the complete food culture that keeps it company.

Franschhoek Literary Festival sits in the Cape Winelands' heart, South Africa's most celebrated literary gathering. Hundreds of local and international authors pack three days, talks, readings, panel discussions. The Huguenot village's excellent South Africa restaurants and wine estates frame every literary conversation with exceptional civility.

South Africa's premier consumer food and wine exhibition tours Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban every single year. Celebrity chefs run live cooking demos while hundreds of exhibitors pour wines, craft beers, and artisan spirits. The show displays the very best South Africa food producers and is an excellent introduction to the country's extraordinary culinary variety.

The oldest and largest ultramarathon on Earth. The Comrades covers approximately 90 kilometres between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, direction flipping every year. More than 25,000 runners stare down a brutal 12-hour cutoff. This race is South Africa's most beloved sporting event, hands down.

For eleven days each winter, Makhanda in the Eastern Cape doesn't just host Africa's largest annual arts festival, it becomes the festival. Over 500 productions, theatre, dance, opera, jazz, fine art, and street performance, pack both ticketed Main Programme shows and the large free Fringe. This is South African artistic talent at full throttle, and any serious South Africa travel guide that omits it has missed the point entirely.

Forget the ponies, Durban July is a fashion war fought with feathers and champagne. South Africa's most glamorous horse racing event is as much about fashion as thoroughbreds. The Vodacom Durban July at Greyville Racecourse is a spectacular social occasion where elaborate hats, designer outfits, and champagne compete for attention with the racing itself. A themed dress competition and celebrity appearances make this a uniquely South African spectacle beloved by locals and visitors alike.

Knysna's ten-day July festival is Africa's top food-and-sports mash-up, and it is all about the oyster. Expect oyster-eating showdowns, wine pairings, cycling races, trail runs, and watersports, every day. The Garden Route town wraps its lagoon around a busy restaurant strip. The combo delivers South Africa's most charming coastal bite-and-bike escape.

August 9 shuts South Africa down, for a reason. The 1956 Women's March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria saw more than 20,000 women march against apartheid pass laws. Today, public events, marches, exhibitions, and tributes fill the country. The Union Buildings in Pretoria anchor the commemorations. Major museums and galleries nationwide join in.

Three days. That's all you get. Johannesburg's premier jazz festival crams the Sandton Convention Centre with excellent performances, jazz, gospel, blues, neo-soul, African jazz. Local legends. International headliners. They share stages across indoor and outdoor venues. The result? An inclusive, sophisticated festival that celebrates jazz in its broadest, most joyful sense. A highlight of things to do in South Africa Johannesburg.

Southern Right whales return to Walker Bay every year, and Hermanus throws the world's best land-based party to greet them. Five days. One town. Zero boats required. The festival lines the cliffs with whale walks, just metres offshore, the giants breach while you walk. Between sightings, the Food and Wine Village pours glasses, live music kicks in, and arts and crafts markets spill across the paths. Environmental education tents dot the grass. Kids leave clutching whale facts instead of plastic toys. Cost? Nothing. This is one of the most extraordinary free things to do in Africa.

South Africans turn their most warmly celebrated public holiday into one giant barbecue. They've embraced the day as 'National Braai Day', the braai cuts clean across every ethnic and social divide in the country. Parks, South Africa beaches, and gardens overflow with families striking matches, sharing food, celebrating together.

Africa's premier contemporary art fair isn't in Cape Town or Lagos, it's at the Sandton Convention Centre. The FNB Joburg Art Fair pulls leading galleries from across Africa and the diaspora into one massive hall. Three days of exhibitions, artist talks, and special installations build an important show for modern African artistic production. Serious collectors fly in. Art enthusiasts queue. Everyone comes.

Durban's South African Indian community throws the loudest Diwali bash outside India. Suburbs like Chatsworth and Phoenix erupt, millions of lamps, fireworks that rattle windows. The Victoria Street Market and Durban City Hall precinct don't charge a cent: public light-ups, street food, total sensory overload.

Cape Town owns one of the planet's busiest specialty coffee scenes, and this three-day festival at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock is its yearly blowout. Independent roasters, barista throw-downs, brewing workshops, food trucks, and sustainability panel discussions turn it into a must-attend event for coffee die-hards and a perfect side dish to exploring Cape Town South Africa restaurants and food culture.

200 bottles of South Africa's finest méthode cap classique share the stage with imported Champagnes at Franschhoek Village Square. Two days. One elegant festival. Food pairings, masterclasses, live jazz, all the elements of a supremely convivial Winelands celebration. Make it the centrepiece of any South Africa itinerary focused on the Cape's wine culture.

From November through March, every Sunday evening, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden throws open-air sunset concerts on its famous amphitheatre lawn. Table Mountain looms behind the stage, no backdrop needed. The line-up jumps from jazz to classical, pop to Afro-fusion, all in one programme. Families stake out picnic blankets early. Musicians chase the last gold light until dusk. This is Cape Town 's most beloved tradition, and it has endured for years.

December 16 is three histories stacked on top of each other. The 1838 Battle of Blood River still echoes in Zulu and Afrikaner memory. That same calendar square marks the 1961 founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Post-apartheid South Africa reclaimed it as a day of national healing and reconciliation. You'll find the biggest commemorations at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria and at the Ncome Museum in KwaZulu-Natal.

Cape Town 's waterfront countdown is South Africa's most spectacular New Year celebration. Fireworks blast over Table Bay at midnight while Table Mountain looms behind, a perfect frame. The V&A Waterfront keeps live entertainment running all evening. Johannesburg's Sandton Square and Durban's Golden Mile beach promenade throw equally busy parties for what to do in South Africa in December.