Firsts, lasts and everything in between. Plan your calendar!

UPDATED 19 JAN 2022. Many of these activities were put on hold during the 2 year Covid Lockdowns and have not restarted so please check before planning to visit any of these events. 

Along with pop-up shops it’s become popular to have a special event on a particular day of each month making it easy to forward plan one’s calendar.  Now that 2018 is in full swing, here’s a list of events to diarize.  

Thursdays

First Thursdays

Let’s start with Thursday as First Thursdays have become a must-do on the arts social calendar.  Joburg’s main galleries all open late and it’s always a fun vibey evening.  At Keyes Art Mile, Circa and Everard Read are the focus with fabulous food trucks and pavement spill-overs from the Milk Bar.  Plus of course upstairs in the Trumpet building is the incredibly glamourous bar MESH as well as Marble. Down the track is Goodman Gallery, Lizamore and David Krut where you can get something to eat at the fabulously popular Bolton Road Collection or nextdoor at the newly opened Saigon Suzy.   And then of course in Braamfontein there’s WAM with the Juta street galleries like Kalishnikovv and Stevensons just down the road.  And there’s a shuttle to the Standard Bank Gallery.

Second Thursdays

Every 2^nd Thursday of the month there is a talk from 6-7 at St Francis Church in Parkview. These ‘Parkviews’ talks are always  really top-class speakers on fascinating and very varied subjects.  They are free with a donation to the Church for their Homeless Community Project. They are well worth attending. 

Third Thursdays

Fourways is not an area I usually frequent, but apparently the night market at Cedar Square is great fun. Every third Thursday of the month the Stall Artisan Night Market takes place from 5 to 9pm. And on the first and last Saturday of the month from 10-3 is the Cedar Square Crafters & Food Market with lots of gourmet foods on offer.

Fridays 

First Fridays

Talking of 44 stanley, they have late opening every first Friday of the month and there are loads of great places to have a drink and a meal: Vovo Telo; Il Giardino; Salvation Cafe; the Stanley Beeryard amongst others.   It is such a great space with quaint arcades, lovely shady courtyard spaces and a great mix of bespoke stores.  

Last Fridays

And if you are a cyclist and want a fun ride through the streets of Jozi, join Critical Mass 

 The official start of the Critical Mass (which is about 20km) is the corner of Juta and De Beer streets in Braamfontein on the last Friday of every month at 19:00.  There are however smaller sub-groups that ride to the mass together, the main sub-group leaves from Dunkeld Shopping center at around 18:00. But …Jan Smuts is a long steep hill.  

Saturdays

Second Saturdays

At the Field and Study Centre in Parkmore every second Saturday there’s a fabulous market. There are the standard market stalls plus lots of wonderful home-made gourment fare, live music and a large play area for kids. AND even better dogs are welcome as long as they are on a lead. 

Third Saturdays

In between all this entertainment and fun stuff  … let’s think about giving back a little. The third Saturday of every month is the A  Re Sebetseng (which means ‘let’s work), is the city-wide clean-up day. So grab a bag, walk the streets or the parks and pick up as much litter as possible. If working in badly polluted area remember to wear gloves and wellies. It’s a great cause. 

Sundays

First Sundays

The first Sunday of every month are busssyyyy …  That funkiest of industrial spaces with the best view of Sandton, Katy’s Palace Bar   in Kramerville has a themed Sunday buffet lunch with live music. But be warned there is no booking and you have to get there early to get a table (like 11 am… so send an advance guard … maybe return the favour with a free lunch!!)  It’s loud, vibey and great fun. 

The Locrate Market in Soweto is also on the first Sunday of the month .  0735219035 I still have to get to this market so sorry – no pics yet! 

 

For great fresh produce as well as delicious home-made goodies, there’s Jozi Real Food Market. It is open Saturdays 8:30am to 1pm as well as the first Sunday of every month from 9am to 3pm.  On these Sundays there’s a vegan market too. You can find them at Pirates Sports Club in Greenside . 

A really exciting new initiative is first Sunday in the Valley on the east side of the city.   The Troyeville Hotel is legendary (delish Portuguese food and a fab balcony to enjoy the warm winter sun) and Spaza Gallery is also a gem of a place. Ellis House in Doornfonten is a great venue – home to Art Eye Gallery  and Piece plus a couple of other galleries.

And Victoria Yards in Lorentzville is a new regenerated industrial space by Brian Green of 44 Stanley. Apart from the Troyeville hotel and Drew Lindsay’s fare at the Spaza Gallery, there’s also Treviso 4th Floor, Morkel House, 31 Voorhout Street  083 402 9539 as well as 4th & Voorhout : Cafe Art Venue

Last Sundays

While the Rosebank Sunday Market always has a great line-up of stalls and events, on the last Sunday of the month they have live music which is always fun and creates a really festive atmosphere.  Guests at Liz at Lancaster always love this market.                                                               

Last Tuesdays     

The last Tuesday of every month sees the fabulous Science and Cocktails evening  at the Orbit in Braamfontein.  It’s always jampacked with loads of senior University students and the talks are invariably fascinating. Even those that go straight over my head, are well-delivered and there’s always something to be gleaned. Plus the smoking cocktails are always so exotic! 

So …. There’s lots to diarize for the rest of the year!