Once again, Cape Town is getting global recognition. Time Out has ranked the city among the top ten worldwide for culture in 2025. That’s a big moment. And a deserved one.
This accolade comes straight from people who live in and love their cities. It’s a win that speaks to how the Mother City shares creativity with everyone. Cape Town culture is not locked behind velvet ropes. It walks the streets, lives in song and dance, and feeds off both tradition and change.
To mark the moment, we’ve pulled together some of the cultural experiences that reflect Cape Town’s character.
The Kaapse Klopse
Every January, the streets fill with song, colour and movement. Bands march with banjos and brass, dressed in bright suits, their faces painted. This is the Kaapse Klopse. Families take part across generations. Kids follow their grandparents in troupes that rehearse all year. It started during a time when freedom was new and fragile. It remains a way for people to show who they are, loudly and proudly.
Cape Town Carnival
The Cape Town Carnival turns the streets into a stage filled with dancers, musicians, and colourful floats. This event is driven by local artists and performers who bring their creativity to life for the city to enjoy. It’s a celebration built by the community, showcasing fresh ideas and talent in a spectacular street party.
Cape Town Jazz Train
The Jazz Train boards at Cape Town Station and takes you across the city’s edges. Local jazz musicians perform live as the train rolls towards the townships. You arrive with the sound still in your ears—and then the next chapter begins. On the ground, community members guide you through their spaces, sharing stories and food along the way.
Suidoosterfees
Held at the Artscape and across the city, the Suidoosterfees puts everyday stories into the spotlight. There’s theatre in different languages, music from across communities, panels where artists speak directly. Some stories come from the Cape Flats, others explore family life, politics, identity, and faith. The work is layered and brave. You leave with something to carry home.
Mitchells Plain Festival
Food, music, and stalls fill Westridge Gardens in Mitchells Plain every year during this festival. It’s where cousins meet up, neighbours run pop-up shops, and artists take the stage. School choirs sing next to house DJs, and the smell of grilled meat carries across the field. The Mitchells Plain Festival belongs to the people who show up, bring chairs, bring energy, and stay late.
District Six Museum
In a quiet building near the city centre, old street names hang on the walls. Photographs, letters, and hand-drawn maps tell the story of families who once lived there—and were forced out. The District Six Museum holds this history in full view. Visitors walk through it. Many recognise names, faces, or even their own family homes. This space was made to remember.
Bo-Kaap Kombuis
Bo-Kaap Kombuis is where Yusuf and Nazli plate their roots with love. They were born in this colourful part of Cape Town, and it shows in every spoon of breyani. This is Cape Malay cooking that speaks for itself—generous, full of flavour, and proud to call Bo-Kaap home.
Cape Flats Book Festival
Held in community libraries across the Cape Flats, this festival creates space for stories that rarely make it to bestseller lists. The focus is on writers from the area—people who write about home, about language, about what’s real. Expect open discussions, book launches, spoken word, and sessions that welcome both first-time readers and lifelong thinkers.
Drift Outlaws SA
Held at Killarney Race Track, Drift Outlaws SA is where spinning and drifting take centre stage. Drivers push their machines to the limit—smoke pours from tyres, engines roar across the circuit, and the crowd stays close to the edge. These are homebuilt cars with serious technique behind the wheel. There’s music, food, families, and a deep sense of pride in what’s been built from scratch.
BAZ-ART
Across Woodstock, Salt River and other corners of Cape Town, walls turn into murals that stretch three storeys high. BAZ-ART supports artists who use paint to tell the truth—about justice, joy, language, land. Some works are bright and playful. Others are heavy and detailed. Together, they turn entire neighbourhoods into living galleries.
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