DURBAN STREET FOOD FESTIVAL 2026

 

(Pic by Shelley Kjonstad)

 

A Feast for the Senses Returns!

Pavilion Shopping Centre, Entrance 5: September 4 – 6, 2026

One of KwaZulu-Natal's biggest food, music, and lifestyle events, the Durban Street Food Festival 2026 returns to The Pavilion Shopping Centre from September 4 to 6, 2026.

Celebrating the very best of food, music, culture, and community, this year's festival promises to bring together more than 75 food, craft, and lifestyle brands, an exciting entertainment programme, family-friendly attractions, and two of South Africa's most celebrated headline artists.

Leading the 2026 music line-up, is legendary Mafikizolo brought to you by The Pavilion Shopping Centre, and award-winning musician Muzi, who will headline a weekend of live performances alongside an outstanding line-up of local talent, including: the KZN Youth Orchestra; Veranda Panda; Matt Davies and Tim Lewis.

The Durban Street Food Festival has established itself as one of South Africa's leading food and lifestyle festivals, celebrating the diverse flavours, cultures, and creative communities that make Durban one of the country's most exciting culinary destinations.

Festival-goers can expect an incredible selection of international and local street food, artisan desserts, gourmet burgers, seafood, vegan cuisine, authentic cultural dishes, handcrafted beverages, specialty coffee, sweet treats, and much more. Beyond the food, visitors will enjoy lifestyle shopping, artisan goods interactive brand activations, family entertainment, children's activities, and immersive festival experiences designed for every age group.

These businesses represent a wide variety of cuisines, products, and creative enterprises, contributing to local economic growth while showcasing the incredible talent found across the region.

One of the standout additions for 2026 is the DSFF Bokke Bokke Fan Park, where rugby supporters can come together on Saturday, September 5, to watch the Springboks live on the big screen in an electric festival atmosphere. The fan park will feature food vendors, beverage gardens, live entertainment, and activations, creating one of Durban's premier rugby viewing experiences.

Durban Street Food Festival also continues to strengthen its position as a major platform for experiential marketing, offering national brands the opportunity to connect directly with thousands of highly engaged consumers through immersive activations and lifestyle experiences.

Whether you're a passionate foodie, music lover, family looking for a great day out, or someone searching for Durban's best festival experience, the Durban Street Food Festival 2026 promises an unforgettable weekend.

Durban Street Food Festival 2026 takes place at the Pavilion Shopping Centre, Entrance 5 from September 4 to 6, 2026

For more information visit email: durbanstreetfoodfestival@gmail.com

Tickets through Quicket.

 

13TH EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL SA PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED

 

The 13th European Film Festival South Africa presents the latest award-winning, critically-acclaimed and star-studded European films for local audiences to experience in cinemas around South Africa from September 17 to 27, 2026. As the world faces ever faster and enormous changes, the festival’s offerings from across the continent paints intimate, human portraits of family in all its different forms as vital to personal, psychological and social survival.

This year’s programme boasts 12 films including new work from Oscar-winning directors Pawel Pawlikowski and Paolo Sorrentino; social realist legends, the Dardenne Brothers; BAFTA-winning feature debutant Akinola Davies Jr.; and intriguing, entertaining, always engaging work from both veteran and emerging European cinematic storytellers. Featuring impressive performances from the cream of European talent including Mads Mikkelsen, Javier Bardem, Sandra Hüller and Carice van Houten, and a host of newcomers ably meeting the challenges of demanding, emotional roles – the 13th edition of South Africa’s premier festival for cinema-lovers explores family and its realities and challenges across time, place and genre.

Opening the festival is The Last Viking, with Denmark’s biggest star Mads Mikkelsen, leading the star-studded cast of this madcap, blackly comic Danish family-drama/crime-caper-noir about brothers, mental health, past secrets, the Beatles and getting by with more than a little bit of help from your friends.

Winner of the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut, My Father’s Shadow (UK), British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr’s first feature marks the arrival of a vital, bold new voice in world cinema. Poetically realised with haunting imagery and bustling, vivid, angry life it’s a deeply personal film that’s a tribute not only to its creators’ own father but to all parents who daily face the struggles to keep their families alive and together at all costs.

Germany’s offering Fatherland directed by Oscar-winning director Paweł Pawlikowski (Ida and Cold War), European cinema’s master of visual and narrative precision, delivers a tightly controlled, intimate, and heart-breaking portrait of German literature’s legendary Thomas Mann as he and his daughter make a journey across a nation trying to grapple with grief and the horrors of the past as the Cold War rages. Winner of the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Festival, the film stars Oscar-nominated Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall).

In Young Mothers (Belgium), the multiple award-winning Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne paint a small, gritty, and empathetic portrait of the struggles of young mothers. Abandoned by their families and society, these courageous and anxious young women support each other as they make the first of many tough adult decisions of their lives. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at Cannes this year.

Oscar- and BAFTA-winning leading Italian director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) reteams with collaborator Toni Servillo in La Grazia (Italy). Servillo won a Best Actor statue at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in this elegantly styled, intimate drama about fathers, daughters, love, duty and the eternal question of “who owns our days?”- set against the grubby backdrop of Italian politics.

Colours of Time (France), directed by Cédric Klapisch is a family drama that weaves together stories from one family’s 19th century past and their 21st-century present. A memorably delightful and touching exploration of art, family and history.

Porcelain War (Ukraine) directed by Brendan Bellomo and this stunning documentary’s key protagonist, Slava Leontyev, is an inspirational Oscar-nominated film in which Leontyev, his wife, and their friend tell, at great personal risk and with footage they shot, the story of how their lives as artists were brutally upended by the war in Ukraine. Now, with roles as Ukrainian soldiers – they’ve never lost their passion for art and nature as they risk everything for family, nation and freedom.

Oscar winner Javier Bardem gives a brooding performance as the fictional, acclaimed, mercurial Spanish film director Esteban Martínez in The Beloved (Spain). Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Martinez returns to his homeland to film a colonial-era period drama set in the Western Sahara. The film unravels the fragile relationship between fathers and daughters and asks difficult questions about personal sacrifices made in service of art.

In A Family (Netherlands) Dutch director Mees Peijnenburg offers a powerful window on divorce in modern Europe, told empathetically through the eyes of a brother and sister trying to each find their own ways - and hopefully a path together - through the aftermath of the bitter war between their parents. It stars Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones) and Pieter Embrechts.

Veteran award-winning Polish director Agnieszka Holland offers an energetic and generally bright biopic about the enigmatic literary genius Franz Kafka, in Franz. The film contemplates its protagonist, his difficult relationship with his father, and imagines how his legacy might be celebrated in the future.

Ireland’s Christy is the debut feature from Brendan Canty that has picked up many nominations and awards at this year’s Irish Film and TV Awards for its tender direction and impressive lead performance from Danny Power as the title character – a teenager with a murkily-remembered tragic past, who, after he’s kicked out of his latest foster home, returns to Cork to stay with his estranged brother. As he tries to figure out his future, he rediscovers the relationship with his brother and begins to imagine a home among people in a place he might yet grow to know and love.

The extraordinary and original, Aquí (Portugal) is director Tiago Guedes’ ambitious, epic and suitably enigmatic adaptation of the Jesus trilogy of novels by South African Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee. It stays true to its source material’s humanist hopes, despairs and probing of the eternal philosophical questions that keep families and societies eternally (and anxiously) moving onward.

The festival pays tribute to the tireless dedication and vision of a former co-director of the festival Peter Rorvik, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Peter was a passionate supporter of independent films, and nurtured a generation of film lovers and filmmakers across South Africa and beyond for decades.

The 13th European Union Film Festival South Africa takes place from September 17 to 27, 2026 in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.

For the full programme and schedule follow on social media or go to www.eurofilmfest.co.za

 

 

DRAKENSBERG BOYS CHOIR SCHOOL BOARD APPOINTS WILLEM S EKSTEEN AS CHAIRPERSON

 

The Drakensberg Boys Choir School (DBCS) has appointed respected strategist, reputation consultant and governance adviser Willem S Eksteen as Chairperson of its Board.

The appointment marks a new chapter for one of South Africa’s most distinctive independent schools as it intensifies its focus on musical excellence, learner recruitment, long-term sustainability and the continued development of boys through its unique integration of music, academic prowess, sports and Christian values. Elected at the School’s Annual General Meeting on August 3, 2026, Eksteen succeeds Dr Terence G Sibiya, whose exemplary tenure as Board Chairperson concluded at the end of July following more than a decade of leadership and service to the School.

The appointment represents an important step in leadership continuity as the School builds on a strong foundation of governance while preparing for its next phase of sustainable growth. The Board remains committed to ensuring that Drakensberg Boys Choir School continues to rank among the world’s leading centres of musical excellence while providing an outstanding holistic education that develops boys intellectually, spiritually, physically and creatively.

 

Building on an extraordinary legacy

For more than ten years, Dr Sibiya helped guide the school through a period of sustained strategic development, characterised by integrity, humility and an unwavering commitment to safeguarding the School’s unique mission. The Board expressed its sincere appreciation for his outstanding contribution and the lasting impact he has had on the governance and long-term direction of the institution.

Reflecting on his years of service, Dr Sibiya said: “It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to serve the Drakensberg Boys Choir School over more than a decade. I am deeply grateful to every Board member, Executive Head, member of staff, parent, learner, alumnus and supporter who has walked this journey with me.”

Congratulating his successor, he adds: “Willem has served the School with integrity, wisdom and genuine passion over the past few years, and I have every confidence that he will lead the Board with humility and a servant heart. I wish him, the Board and the entire DBCS family God’s richest blessing as they continue building on the remarkable legacy of this extraordinary institution.”

 

A leader deeply invested in the School

Eksteen brings extensive strategic leadership experience together with a longstanding personal commitment to the School. He first became involved when his son joined as a Drakie New Boy and soon after served on the Drakies Parents’ Association before joining the Board in August 2023, where he has served as the Board Director responsible for Marketing and Fundraising, helping strengthen the School’s strategic positioning, stakeholder engagement and fundraising initiatives.

Professionally, he is the founding Chief Executive of Stone, a strategy, communication and marketing consulting firm he established in 2008. Holding qualifications in both Law and Journalism, Eksteen has advised South African and international organisations on strategy, governance, leadership, stakeholder engagement and organisational transformation.

Accepting his appointment, Eksteen pays tribute to his predecessor. “Dr Terence Sibiya has set an extraordinary standard of leadership and leaves very big shoes to fill. On behalf of the Board and the entire DBCS community, I thank him sincerely for his wisdom, humility and exceptional service.”

Describing the role of Chairperson as one of stewardship rather than status, Eksteen says: “Leadership is never about position. It is about service. Our responsibility is to serve this remarkable institution with humility, unity and wisdom, always placing the interests of the School and every boy entrusted to our care ahead of our own.”

 

Securing the School’s future

Looking ahead, Eksteen said the Board’s immediate priorities will centre on growing learner enrolment, strengthening donor partnerships and ensuring the School remains financially sustainable for generations to come.

“As an independent school, Drakensberg Boys Choir School receives no public operating funding. Our long-term sustainability depends on school fees together with the generosity of donors, alumni, parents, companies, foundations and friends who believe in the transformative work of this remarkable world-class institution. Growing learner recruitment and expanding fundraising are therefore among the Board’s highest strategic priorities. They are investments in safeguarding one of South Africa’s greatest cultural and educational treasures.”

Eksteen says the School offers a unique educational proposition that extends far beyond the internationally acclaimed Drakensberg Boys Choir. “Parents choose Drakensberg Boys Choir School because it develops well-rounded young men. Our world-renowned Drakensberg Boys Choir programme is complemented by strong academics, competitive sport, Christian values, leadership development and a healthy boarding school life within the magnificent mountain environment of the Central Drakensberg. Few schools anywhere in the world offer such a distinctive and holistic educational experience.”

Calling on the wider DBCS community to unite behind the School, he adds: “Every parent, alumnus, donor, supporter and friend has an important role to play in securing the future of Drakensberg Boys Choir School. Together we can ensure that future generations continue to benefit from an education that changes lives through music, character, academic excellence and service.”

Executive Head Hendrik Bekker welcomed Eksteen’s appointment, describing him as a leader who understands both the School’s heritage and its future. “Willem understands that the strength of Drakensberg Boys Choir School lies in the unique balance we achieve between world-class musical excellence, outstanding academics, competitive sport, character formation and healthy boarding school life. His strategic leadership and high work ethic will help ensure that this distinctive school model continues to flourish for generations to come.”

Reaffirming the School’s enduring purpose, Eksteen concludes: “Our motto, ‘Music is our Ministry’, must continue to guide everything we do. If we remain faithful to our Christian values, united in purpose and committed to excellence, the future of this extraordinary School will be every bit as inspiring as its past. Let us continue working hard with a good attitude.”

MUSIC EN MASSE 2026

DLI Hall, Greyville: Sunday, September 13 at 14h30

The British Cultural & Heritage Association presents Music en Masse 2026 – a participative and fun orchestral concert which aims to bring together musicians - anyone who can read and play music - of all ages and cultures in KZN for a concert performed by “the biggest orchestra ever seen in Durban” to take place in the DLI Hall in Greyville on Sunday September 13 at 14h30.

The concert has become an annual event - part of Durban’s musical calendar – featuring a public performance by a massed orchestra, under the baton of Russell Scott, which aims to serve the interests of the arts, culture and musical education in Durban. The organisers are looking for participants to join in!

The concert features a varied programme of orchestral favourites and eclectic musical numbers: National Anthem; Carmen Suite – Habenera; The King and I Selections; Go West!; Music from Lord of the Rings; Themes from Memoirs of a Geisha (strings & percussion); Gabriel’s Oboe; Amparita Rocca; Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana and Can Can from Orpheus in the Underworld.

To participate, or for more information contact - phone: 031-202 6174 / mail bcha1820@global.co.za

FROM STAGE TO SCREEN II

Durban City Orchestra presents more songs from film and musical theatre: From Stage to Screen II

 

Performances:

August 23 at 15h30 at St Agnes, Kloof

August 30 at 15h00 at St Thomas Church

 

The Durban City Orchestra presents their second concert series of the year, following on from their hugely-successful homage to music from film and musical theatre – with a second programme of carefully-curated glorious bouquet of themes from much-loved stage and screen productions to be performed throughout Women’s Month.

Among the pieces to be performed include: Disney at the Movies; Feather Theme from Forrest Gump; theme from Harry Potter; Hook; How to Train your Dragon; Jurassic Park; Lord of the Rings; Phantom of the Opera; Pirates of the Caribbean and Superman.

Sponsored by Mzansi Philharmonic. 

Tickets through Quicket and at the door. 

 

JOMBA! KHULUMA 2026

What Moves When Bodies Gather? JOMBA! 2026 and the Choreographies of Activism — a festival preview

By Clare Craighead (for JOMBA! KHULUMA)

 

JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

Activism is a word with weight. It is also a word we use easily. We recognise its gestures, its slogans, its urgency. But what happens when we place activism alongside dance? What might a body do that a placard cannot? And when does moving, gathering, remembering, teaching, making or simply taking up space become political?

These questions sit inside the 28th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience and its 2026 curatorial provocation, “Choreographies of Activism: Moving Bodies as Disruptive Presencing”.

They are not entirely new questions for this festival.

Across 28 years, JOMBA! has repeatedly made space for contemporary dance that unsettles easy borders: between art and politics, the personal and the public, African and international practice, and the body as something we watch and the body as something lived, social and historical. So perhaps this year’s theme does not announce an entirely new direction. Rather, it brings into sharper focus something that has long moved through the festival.

Across its history, JOMBA! has offered space to artists whose work carries difficult and often unresolved questions: race and colonialism, gender and sexuality, displacement, disability, belonging, memory, environmental crisis and the politics of who gets to appear. But activism cannot only be located in what a dance is about. It may also sit in the longer work of making and holding space — for African contemporary dance, for exchange across borders and generations, for emerging artists, for critical conversation, and for bodies and practices that have not always been afforded equal visibility.

This makes the word activism usefully open.

In 2026, PJ Sabbagha, Mamela Nyamza and Vincent Mantsoe bring very different artistic histories and choreographic languages into the same festival. Their work need not stand for one idea of political dance. Nor do the international artists gathering in Durban need to be folded neatly into a shared language of resistance. Part of what a festival makes possible is this encounter between difference: different histories, different urgencies, different relationships to the body, and different ideas about what dance might be asked to do.

Activism may arrive loudly, through confrontation or refusal. But it might also sit in persistence, memory, ritual, humour, care, survival and community; in who gets to dance, who gets to make, and who gets to be seen. Sometimes it may be found in the sustained act of continuing to make work at all.

The spaces around the main performances stretch these questions further. OPEN HORIZONS creates space for developing and established choreographers; FEMME FORWARD invests in emerging women-identifying dance artists in KwaZulu-Natal; DIGITAL JOMBA! asks how choreography shifts when bodies meet cameras and screens; while workshops, talks and public conversations allow ideas to keep moving after the dancing has stopped.

 

And KHULUMA asks us to write.

The 2026 JOMBA! KHULUMA Dance Writing Residency is already underway, with a new group of 13 emerging writers beginning the work of researching, looking, listening, questioning and finding language for what they are about to encounter. As JOMBA! unfolds, their reviews and reflections will begin to appear too — as part of the conversation that gathers around them.

Perhaps this is where “Choreographies of Activism” becomes most interesting: not as a definition that the programme must prove, but as an invitation to remain attentive.

What kinds of presence become disruptive, and in what circumstances? What histories arrive with the bodies we watch? What does it mean to make space, to hold it, or to shift the terms on which that space has been offered? Where might activism be found in the visible gesture, and where might it be quieter, slower, less immediately legible?

The 28th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience runs in Durban from August 25 to September 6, 2026. Watch this space as the 2026 KHULUMA writers begin sharing their responses throughout the festival — and come and encounter the dancing for yourself.

Book your tickets through Webtickets.

 

MIDNIGHT IN PARYS: REVIEW

 

(Paul Slabolepszy & Bianca Amato. Image taken from a Montecasino poster)

 

Reviewed at the Hilton Theatre during the Hilton Arts Festival. (Review by Shannon Kenny)

 Parys, Free State: Aiden Stromberg (Paul Slabolepszy) and Joanna Devlin (Bianca Amato), strangers, meet in a cafe in this platteland dorp. “Paris with a y” has drawn them both there for different reasons. It is midnight, the Southern Cross is in the sky and the Vredefort Dome, a short distance away, a memorial to cataclysmic and literally earth-shattering events, is also a portent of what might be revealed.

The humour is dark - it’s a Paul Slabolepszy play, after all.

The set evokes a tiredness in the bar furniture, the plastic table-cloths and yellow walls and one even has this sense it must reek of the smoke from myriad cigarettes lit and stubbed out over decades.

What ensues in their encounter is the pealing back of layers of artifice and emotional body-armour. The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood” the phone calls Aiden avoids answering, Joanna’s Northern Ireland (Derry) accent, the absence of partners, references to the Dome, the Southern Cross and Thabiso all begin to make sense. There’s history, love, pain, regret, trust, loss, displacement, choices and grief; troubles personal and political that never allow you to ‘settle’.

Aiden Stromberg is an affluent engineer from Joburg, the last customer in the café owned and run by Joanna Devlin. The rest of her staff have long since gone home and Joanna needs to lock up. Her Derry accent reveals she’s clearly not a Free State platteland native and she has no problem confiscating Aiden’s car keys because he is in no state to drive. She suggests he rather check in at the local holiday chalets before setting off in the morning.

Aiden demands his keys be returned and so this anti-meet-cute proceeds, first flickering, then bursting with the energy of a dozen wildfires, till it dwindles to a smoulder that leaves the audience a lot less comfortable with our assumptions, prejudices, choices and points of view. And at the top of our audience hive-mind is the question: What has brought them here?

The story unfolds as the conversation by turns morphs from parley, to tete a tete, to debate, to counsel, to consolation - each character divulging snippets of their lives, warm reminiscences, and origin stories with inconvenient truths. Probing questions are asked, sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully. Truths are spoken or shouted, sometimes barbed, sometimes with compassion, empathy. And the answers we get aren’t always the ones we expect.

Written by Paul Slabolepszy and directed by Bobby Heaney, this story of deep love of the romantic kind; love of the kind where you would risk any and everything for the precious life of another; of compassion that goes beyond words; of finding sanctuary in remote places - and people; about trust that allows us to escape to find healing peace and looking to the stars to guide us to our eternal home, to the fulfilment of dreams.

Bianca Amato and Paul Slabolepszy breathe life into their characters through their fine-tuned, nuanced and utterly believable performances. Amato’s portrayal of a single mother who has seen it all - troubles personal and political - is superb. Slabolepszy embodies the elderly curmudgeon with such ease. We are invited into the sanctuary they create on stage and held there till the final bow.

This is theatre that forces you to shift uncomfortably in your seat because it is abrasive and raw in what it lays bare about the human heart. That our joy, our despair, our hope can all exist all at once wrapped up inside us and how we wrestle with any or all of them is uniquely ours to contend with.

In the words of a certain young person in my life: “The purpose of any good art is to make you think and feel, challenge - and maybe even change - your point of view. It’s not meant to just stroke your ego or make you feel comfortable with the way things are. In fact, some art should make you feel uncomfortable - and that’s a good thing, I think.”

This is good art - written, directed, performed. If this play ever comes your way, see it! – Shannon Kenny.

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S THE HOLLOW

Agatha Christie’s The Hollow is showing from August 21 to September 5 at Westville Theatre Club. Come and watch the mystery unfold right before your eyes!

Directed by Jill Sysum & Maya Olsen, The Hollow remains an example of classic Christie: a gathering of guests at a country house is disturbed by a sudden death and luckily Poirot is in attendance. The main players include a downtrodden wife, her successful husband, and the reappearance of an old flame.

Lady Angkatell, intrigued by the criminal mind, has invited Hercule Poirot to her estate for a weekend house party. The Belgian detective's arrival at the Hollow is met with an elaborate tableau staged for his amusement: a doctor lies in a puddle of red paint; his timid wife stands over his body with a gun while the other guests look suitably shocked. But this is no charade. The paint is blood and the corpse real!

 

Dates: August 21 - September 5

Saturday & Sunday Matinees: Doors open 14h00 | Curtains up 14h30

Friday & Saturday Evening Shows: Doors open 18h30 | Curtains up 19h00

Dinner-style theatre – bring your own food and drinks!

 Tickets: R120 (R100 for students, pensioners, and members)

Venue: Westville Theatre Club

  

To Book:

WhatsApp Dorothy on +27 83 776 1754

Email: dorothyannoneill@gmail.com

 

28th JOMBA! CONTEMPORARY DANCE EXPERIENCE

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre / Square Space / Stable Theatre / KZNSA Gallery – August 26 to September 7.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Creative Arts presents the 28th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, a 13-day celebration taking place from August 26 to September 7, 2026. JOMBA! features internationally-acclaimed choreographers, emerging artists, scholars and audiences in a festival that is one of the continent’s leading platforms for contemporary dance.

This year's programme welcomes artists from South Africa, Spain, France, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Uganda, Ireland, Nigeria, Tanzania and Brazil, presenting an extraordinary programme of performances, artist residencies, workshops, public dialogues, youth platforms and digital dance.

For more information and the full programme, go to www.jomba.ukzn.ac.za or to book, go to Webtickets.

Special full festival passes at a discounted rate are available.

SHALL WE DANCE

(Team ISPA or the International School of Performing Arts will be dazzling audiences. Pic by Val Adamson)

 

The annual feel-good dance extravaganza, Shall We Dance returns to razzle and dazzle fans at The Playhouse Opera for five shows only from September 11 to 13.

The colourful celebration of dance combines over ten styles with vibrant choreography, vivacious costumes, pulsating music and energetic lighting.

Shall We Dance is one of the longest running dance shows in the world and features over 100 amateur dancers from around town. Shall We Dance has been running for more than three decades and is by far the city’s most endearing regular dance showcase. It reminds us of the huge fun, talent, fellowship and confidence-boost that joining a dance group can offer. Professional dancers share the stage with Durban dance studios, and the students from the International School of Performing Arts; in an array of ballroom, ballet, Bollywood, Irish, hip-hop and Latin at its finest.

 

(Left: Aer Lingus. Irish Dancers from the KZN Academy of Celtic Dance, led by twins Melissa Alberts and Samantha Wood. Pic by Val Adamson)

 

Returning for their second appearance, international dance stars Egor Kondratenko & Mie Lincke Funch are coming to us hot off the European and Asian competition floor, bring their luscious Latin American steps back to the Playhouse stage. Representing Denmark, the duo has a busy calendar having just finished fifth in Denmark, third in Vietnam and will be taking to the floor for the Grand Slam and German Opens.

Lisa Bobbert returns as the fabulous and charming eMCee. Professional ballroom dancers, Mark and Edlena Leslie-Smith will be making their debut as a featured couple in this year’s extravaganza. The husband-and-wife team have been dancing for a quarter of a century, but only a couple of years in the professional realm, having danced in Belgium, Canada and Spain, and most recently in Japan at the World Professional Ballroom Dance Championships.

This spectacular showcase is the creation of dancers Caryl Cusens and Neville Letard and is presented by the South African Dance Teachers Association in association with The Playhouse Company.

 

Show times:

Friday September 11 at 19h00

Saturday September 12 at 13h00 and 17h00

Sunday September 13 at 11h00 and 15h00

 

Prices range from R150 to R200

Sunday morning (11h00) - R150 throughout the house

Booking at Webtickets

TRIBUTE TO DR BUSELAPHI GXOWA

 

(Right: Dr Buselaphi Gxowa)

 

A Tribute to Dr Buselaphi Gxowa: Honouring a Voice, a Legacy and the Living Tradition of Maskandi.

The Music Imbizo, in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Jazz and Popular Music and the Dr Buselaphi Gxowa Foundation, invites musicians, cultural practitioners, music lovers and the wider public to gather in Durban for a special tribute celebrating the life and musical legacy of Dr Buselaphi Gxowa on Wednesday August 26, 2026, at 17h30.

This live performer has more than 29 years of experience in the music industry. The widely respected as iNdlovukazi yoMaskandi, Dr Buselaphi has built a strong reputation through her powerful voice, traditional dance performance, cultural leadership, and lasting contribution to indigenous music in South Africa.

Raised in Ngolotshe, Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, she developed a deep connection to traditional music from an early age, shaping the artistic identity that has made her one of the recognised voices in the Maskandi genre. Over the course of her career, Dr Buselaphi Gxowa has released 14 albums, earned 21 awards, and received 29 certificates, reflecting both her longevity and impact in the field. Her profile also states that she obtained a doctorate from Dlaba Production at the University of Zululand. She also collaborated with Imithente for 18 years and produced the Imiyezane Maskandi group, along with other musical groups and individual artists.

Buselaphi Gxowa’s work has taken her to international stages, with performances in France, India, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Angola. respected cultural voice in South African music. Through her artistry, mentorship, and dedication to heritage, she continues to inspire audiences and contribute meaningfully to the preservation and growth of traditional music.

 

Event Details

Tribute to Dr Buselaphi Gxowa presented by The Music Imbizo

Date: Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Doors Open: 17:00. Performance: 17:30

Centre for Jazz and Popular Music

Dennis Shepstone Building, Level 2

UKZN Howard College Campus

Access: Gates 3 or 8, Rick Turner Road

 

Tickets: R130 (R100 pensioners, R70 students)

Tickets are available on Webtickets or at the door (cash only).

FNB POP OPERA 2026

What happens when the artists who helped shape South Africa’s musical heritage share a stage with those shaping its future? FNB Pop Opera 2026 brought that question to life in Ballito on Saturday, August 8, 2026, placing generations of African music side by side in a celebration of legacy, talent and evolution.

Under the theme Inheritance of Greatness, living legends Mam’ Letta Mbulu and Caiphus Semenya were honoured guests at the event, as contemporary voices including Amanda Black, Vusi Nova, Black Byrd, Thanda Tembe, Karendra Devroop, Mnqobi Yazai and Zandile Mzazi performed in their presence.

Accompanied by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and Reddam House Choir, the artists paid tribute to the pair through specially-curated medleys of some of their most iconic works, celebrating an enduring influence that continues to inspire generations of performers.

That intersection between heritage and contemporary expression was central to the FNB Pop Opera experience. The presence of Mbulu and Semenya provided a direct connection to South Africa's rich musical history, while the performances by a new generation of artists demonstrated how their influence continues to resonate across modern African music. Together, they illustrated that musical heritage is not confined to a particular era but remains relevant when it is embraced, reinterpreted and shared with new audiences.

Nkosana Matyeshana, FNB Events Marketing Lead, says: "At FNB, we believe greatness begins with talent, passion and potential. Through initiatives like FNB Pop Opera, we celebrate the icons who have shaped our cultural landscape while creating platforms that inspire and elevate the next generation. Honouring Mam' Letta Mbulu and Caiphus Semenya in this way reflects our commitment to supporting journeys from grassroots beginnings to greatness, ensuring that legacy continues to inspire future excellence."

The intergenerational focus also carried special resonance during Women's Month. As one of South Africa's most celebrated cultural figures, Mam' Letta Mbulu's contribution to music continues to inspire generations of women across the industry. The evening provided an opportunity to recognise not only her enduring impact, but also the broader role women continue to play as performers, composers, creators and cultural leaders. At the same time, it highlighted the importance of creating space for emerging female artists to add their own voices to that legacy.

More than a showcase of established names and emerging talent, the evening demonstrated how musical heritage remains alive when it is celebrated, challenged and reimagined by each new generation. By bringing together iconic figures and contemporary performers, FNB Pop Opera created a powerful reminder that the path from potential to greatness is often paved by those who came before.

The legacy continues, not as a record of the past, but as inspiration for the artists and stories still taking shape.