Here’s some jols in July
Music
The Two Oceans Aquarium and Texx and the City continue with After Dark 2025, a stripped-down series of performances throughout winter. The second iteration, on 30 July, includes the band Visitor’s Centre, and singer-songwriter Carla Franco, winner of the 2024 Texx and the City Band or Bust competition. Doors open at 6:30 pm; come early to explore the aquarium before the music. The first act begins at 8 pm, the second at 9 pm. A cash bar and snacks will be available. Tickets cost R395, book here.
Cute winter date night. The Candlelight Concert Series continues on select weekends in July at the Norval Foundation in Tokai. A rotating cast of string quartets performs Hans Zimmer, Adele, and tributes to Queen, Coldplay, and Ed Sheeran. Ticket prices range from R350 to R600. To browse dates and book tickets, go to Fever.
Eastern Cape jazz musician Mandisi Dyantyis collaborates with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra for Mandisi Dyantyis: Symphonic Celebration at the Artscape Opera House on 11 and 12 July. The 65-piece orchestra will reimagine compositions from Dyantyis’ Cwaka and Somandla, as well as his upcoming album Intlambululo. Something that doesn’t happen often, big potential for goosebumps. Tickets are tiered from R300 to R595, Available on Webtickets.
Swiss percussionist and composer Siegfried Kutterer and South African bassist, bandleader and composer Carlo Mombelli return from the National Arts Festival with The Gong Project, showing at the Homecoming Centre, Buitenkant Street on 5 July. The collaboration fuses Kutterer’s percussion and compositional technique – central to the project is his unique collection of Balinese gongs – with Mombelli’s improvised and self-composed bass work. Tickets cost R250, available on Quicket.
If you are a Cafe Roux regular, you’ll love their evening of soulful songs by their wonderful staff! featuring “Eddie (small Eddie), Grammar, Rufaro, Faith and Masi”, the Cafe Roux Collective on Wednesday 23 July from 6 pm, show starts at 7:30 pm, come early for a bite or beverage. Tickets cost R120 available on Quicket
For the heavy metal lovers and friends, WinterFest is Cape Town’s all-African heavy metal gathering, hosted by Metal4Africa at Viben Lounge in Brackenfell on 26 July. Seven bands take the stage, including Doom Trigger, Marene, Terroraze and Dreadlines, etc. Runs from 4 pm to midnight. Early bird tickets cost R230, general R280, available here.
Theatre
The Baxter Theatre’s permanent company in residence, Fires Burning, reignites Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 La Ronde in a dark, sensual web of ten bodies and ten encounters. Directed by Leila Henriques, the show stars Berenice Barbier and Aidan Scott alongside the Fires Burning ensemble: Awethu Hleli, Lyle October, Tamzin Daniels, Nolufefe Ntshuntshe, and Carlo Daniels. A sultry take on desire, consent, power and vanity. It has been running at the Baxter Studio from 20 June until 12 July. PG16. Tickets range from R160 to R190, available on Webtickets.
Taare, Cape Town’s Bollywood dance troupe, presents Kismet, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, at the Artscape Opera House on 17 (preview), 19 and 20 July. The Shakespearean tragedy is told through choreography and a carefully selected musical score of adored tracks from the Bollywood industry. Tickets are R100 for the preview, else R150 – R250, seat dependent. Available on Webtickets.
An Apprenticeship with Sorrow, at Theatre Arts in Observatory from 1 to 6 July, is a physical and sonic meditation on personal and planetary loss. Using experiences of dementia and climate collapse, the piece asks how grief might become a space for transformation, and what it means to mourn collectively. Directed by Lwanda Sindaphi, written and performed by Sara Matchett and Nina Callaghan. Tickets cost R150, R100 concession, book here.
This will be good. Petticoat Princess is a reimagination of former Kenyan middle-distance runner and the first woman of colour to triumph at the Commonwealth Games marathon in 1973, Sabina Chebichi, barefoot and wearing nothing but a petticoat. The work was previously staged at Joburg Moves Dance Season in April 2024 and at TX Theatre for Tembisa Theatre Week in February 2025. Directed by Khutjo Green and performed by Thami Tshabalala, who has been touring Europe with Mamela Nyamza’s Hatched Ensemble.Runs at Theatre Arts in Observatory from 19 to 20 July. Tickets cost R140, R100 concession, or R110 for block bookings of 10 or more. Book here.
Festivals
Oui Oui! The Franschhoek Iconic Bastille Festival returns this year on 12 and 13 July, celebrating French heritage, at the Franschhoek Hospice Grounds. Now in its 33rd year, the winter festival brings gourmet food stalls, artisanal stalls, live entertainment and has a best-dressed competition. Also available is the Uncorked Exclusive, a more intimate wine experience from surrounding wine farms. Dress in blue, white, and red, drop your consonants and cultivate disdain for the British. Tickets cost R390 per day and include a souvenir wine glass with 10 tasting tokens. With additional R120 for the exclusive tastings. Tickets are strictly 18+. Available via Webtickets.
National Arts Festival: 26 June to 6 July
If you’re making the pilgrimage, Cape Town shows will be in Makhanda for the National Arts Festival until 6 July, this includes:
Cape Ballet Africa presents SALT at the Guy Butler Theatre in Makhanda from 1 to 6 July, following its initial run in June. The triple bill includes new works by Kirsten Isenberg, Mthuthuzeli November and Michelle Reid, and closes with Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, set to Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Tickets cost R150, available here.
Running at the Spark Hub in Makhanda until 6 July, Messy is a semi-autobiographical solo work written and performed by Samantha Carlisle, directed by Dara Beth. The piece unpacks intimacy, sex work and contemporary womanhood. Tickets cost R100, available here.
I Can Buy Myself Flowers, starring Erika Breytenbach, runs at the Masque Theatre in Makhanda from 27 June to 5 July. Written by Mike van Graan and directed by Toni Morkel, the solo comedy looks at midlife, mourning and family dysfunction with sharp wit and theatrical flair. Tickets cost R130, available here