There are several events, exhibitions, fairs and festivals which take place annually in Johannbesburg and several guests have asked for advance warning so that they can plan their intineraries. So here goes:
Cultural activities
Visual arts
Art Fairs
There is a variety of art fairs that take place annually: RMB Latitudes (a weekend in late May) based at Shepstone Gardens – a quirky indoor-outdoor space with wonderfully eclectic architectural and garden spaces; Contra (coincides with RMB Latitudes) which focuses on artists’ working in shared studios in Joburg Inner City; and the Grand Dame of Art Fairs – the FNB Art Fair at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Exhibitions
Every three years the Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation identifies a theme which then becomes the topic of a long-running exhibition for part of the year. Each of the 3 exhibitions explores a different aspect of the overarching 3-year theme. From 2020-2022 the topic addressed was female artists in the Global South. The current theme is WorldMaking and the first in the trilogy of exhibitions is Eco Spheres on until 7th December. The various images and installations in this exhibition look at the pressing global issues of humankind’s impact on the environment, as well as exploring sustainable alternatives to our current use of natural resources.
Music
The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra [JPO] holds excellent concerts over 4 seasons each year, with each season comprising 4 weekly concerts (Thursday evenings). Season Tickets can be booked at discounted rates: Summer: Feb/March; Winter: May/June; Early Spring: August; Spring: Oct/Nov. Phone 011 484 0446 or contact info@jpo.co.za
There is always a stunning line-up of artists at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz held at the Sandton Convention Centre over the last weekend in September. This year the line-up includes 50 world-class musicians, from more than 10 countries. Artists will perform across five stages in two days.
And then coming up in January 2025 at the Linder Auditorium in Parktown is the International Mozart Festival. Details have not been released yet but keep watching this space.
Opera buffs are treated to screenings of the latest season of operas filmed live from New York Met These screenings are shown at the Cinema Nouveau in the Rosebank Mall (10 minutes from Liz at Lancaster). The upcoming 2024/2025 season consists of these 8 operas which are screend on Sunday at 2.30 and again on Tuesday at 12.
- Offenbach’s Les Contes d’ Hoffman 20th October
- Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded 3rd November This is new contemporary opera which looks a bit mind-boggling as it “wrestles with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare’. It seems Michael Mayer’s staging is very high tech with an array of LED screens, drones and remote control detonations.
The Met aims to attract new audiences so in additiion to the old classics, they always include a new contemporary opera in their season and Grounded is one such. The live screenings globally predate the South African screenings. - Puccini’s Tosca 22nd December
- Verdi’s Aida February 2025 Again with Michael Mayer’s staging
- Beethoven’s Fidelio March 2025
- Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro April 2025
- Straus’ Salome May 2025 stars Elza Van Den Heever, the South Afican born soprano
- Rossini’s Barber of Seville May 2025
National Theatre Live
The latest series of screenings from the National Theatre, has already started at Cinema Nouveau. The second play, Dear England is being screened from Saturday 24th August. It seems the jury is out on the success of this play about the English soccer coach Gareth Southgate. There is praise from English reviewers for the acting (Joseph Fiennes as Southgate), the choreography, and the stagecraft of this ‘lively romp’ . But many found that the core message of male vulnerabity is labored to the point of soppiness.
While Dear England is not top of my list to see, Vanya starting on 28th September, looks excellent. Andrew Scott stars in what seems to be a tour de force of acting, playing all 4 characters in this one-man adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.
And the next screening is also one for my ‘must-see-list’: The Motive and the Cue starting 26 October. Michael Biilington writes in The Guardian:
In 1964 Richard Burton played Hamlet on Broadway in a modern-dress production directed by John Gielgud. By commercial standards, it was a roaring success: it ran for 17 weeks, breaking a record previously held by Gielgud himself, and was packed out every night. But, for many of those involved, it was not a happy experience. And that is the subject of a new play by Jack Thorne, The Motive and the Cue, which starts previewing at the National Theatre in April, directed by Sam Mendes with Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Elizabeth Taylor, who had married Burton during the production’s Toronto tryout and whose offstage presence was a source of permanent distraction.
This play about a clash of two theatrical traditions and two celebreties both with large ego’s … and add Lizzie into the mix, promises to be riveting! And anything directed by Sam Mendes immediately makes me pay attention.
The fourth screening in this season on NYLive also has a very English focus. The focus of this new play Nye by Tim Price is the life of Aneurin “Nye” Bevan who is credited with creating Britain’s National Health Service in 1948. The content might be of particular relevance given the current state of the British NHS and South Africa’s attempts to develop a National Health scheme.
There are four screenings of each play: Saturday 5.30; Sunday 2.30 Wednesday 14.45; Thursday 5.30
Book Fairs
One of the many cultural highlights of my year is the Kingsmead Book Fair which is a full day event on a Saturday in late May. There are at least 5 sessions over the day with mutiple panels taking place concurrently. This means making a choice which is really difficult as there as so many wonderful options covering a wide range of content with over 140 interesting authors, experts and panel facilitators. The 2024 programme gives an indication of the richness and variety of topics on offer. There are also programmes for young adults and children.
Sport
The Africanbank Soweto Marathon is a very special marathon as the route goes past iconic Soweto landmarks like Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Walter Sisulu Square, the Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Credo Mutwa Cultural Village, Morris Isaacson High School and Hector Pieterson Memorial. There are 4 different distances: 42km , 21km and a 10km. The entry closes when the cap has been reached or 30th September 2024.
The annual cycle race, the Virgin Active 947 Ride Joburg, takes place annually on the third Sunday in November. It starts and ends in FNB Stadium in Soweto and as my very good friend and very good cyclist says: “it presents the gruelling challenge of those Fascist Gauteng hills” … very steep with no contouring! Between 20,000 and 30,000 participants take part in this event sponsored largely by the radio station 947 and the gym, Virgin Active.
There is also an annual Virgin Active Ride Joburg MTB [ie Mountain Bike] event in first part of November with 10km, 25km, or 50km routes.
Wine Festival
Over 150 “who’s who” of South African wine producers showcase their wines, Cap Classiques and ports, annually at Winex during this annual event over the weekend of late October/early November. Held at the Sandton Convention Centre, culinary delicacies of note are also on offer: specialty meats, olives, cheese and chocolates.
Joburg has several weekly, monthly and seasonal markets. See more.
And the biggest party of them all: Johannesburg Pride
