The rate at which international acts have been coming to South Africa in recent times is at its highest ever.
The South African events landscape has shown great potential this year, but there is still a lot to do to improve the packaging of events and music festivals to meet consumer standards.
Seeing international acts perform live in South Africa isn’t novel.
I mean, during the dark days of apartheid, the likes of Dolly Parton, Elton John, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles performed in Mzansi at the height of their careers.
However, the rate at which these performances have been occurring in recent times is at its highest it’s ever been.
ALSO READ: Anything Goes on a decade of growth in Mzansi’s festival landscape
International acts flocking to SA
Speaking to this publication this year, Shaun Duwe, founder and CEO of seasoned event organisers Anything Goes, said this can be attributed to several factors.
“The rise of South African music like Afro House and Amapiano has turned the world’s lens on us. That global attention has given our market the confidence to push boundaries and create more ambitious shows, meeting the intense demand for unique cultural events,” says the organiser and curator.
“Plus, with so much interest in South African music, artists want to come and visit our country now more so than ever, which opens up the opportunity for more tours and more festivals, of course.”
On a Saturday night during October this year, this was displayed when award-winning US rappers, Travis Scott and Lupe Fiasco, headlined two separate hip-hop events in Joburg- the Castle Lite Unlocks Experience and Back To The City.
This showed South Africa’s appreciation of hip-hop, the different styles, but also how grown the events space is, in how it can successfully pull off international acts of the same genre on the same night.
In March, a week after ditching Rwanda over its political stance, Nigerian artist Tems brought her Born in the Wild Tour to South Africa.
Just a few weeks ago, Canadian R&B duo Majid Jordan were announced as the other international act for January’s Milk + Cookies festival in Cape Town and Joburg. This is after they had first announced US rapper Gunna as the main act.
Another Canadian duo, Dvsn, mesmerised their South African fans at the Once Upon a Time in Joburg and Cape Town concerts.
Another improvement this year was the diversity of international acts, brought about by the variety of events people could choose from.
In a space of months, South Africans had the opportunity to see celebrated Gospel artist CeCe Winans live, US singer and rapper GoldLink at One Upon A Time in Joburg, Grammy Award-winning artists Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean at Delicious Festival, US bassist Esperanza Spalding and jazz great Wynton Marsalis at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz.
And there have been more international acts coming to our shores.
ALSO READ: Patrons complain about disorganisation of Milk & Cookies festival in Cape Town
Lessons to be learnt
For every good, there is a bad, and there is no bigger flop in the event space than the Hey Neighbour debacle, although the mismanagement of Kanye West not performing in Mzansi this month comes very close.
Hey Neighbour Festival, which was hosted only once in 2023, was forced to cancel the 2024 and 2023 editions due to poor planning.
Several patrons who bought tickets for the festival, initially scheduled for August, have, for the past few months, complained about not receiving their refunds.
Only in October did the organisers release a statement saying they were working to repay the slew of concert-goers, but couldn’t provide an exact date for repayment.
Before its eventual postponement, the Kanye West concert had been riddled with controversy since it was announced that the multiple Grammy Award-winning artist would be performing in Johannesburg.
At the centre of the controversy were the show’s organisers, the Monyake Group, who have been silent about the show’s details.
A statement then confirmed that Monyake Group is no longer involved in the show.
ALSO READ: Tems to bring ‘Born in the Wild Tour’ to Joburg after ditching Rwanda
In January this year, the Milk & Cookies festival did not impress South Africans in Cape Town during its first instalment due to poor organisation.
Milk & Cookies is a multifaceted production and marketing company based in Atlanta, US, with clients in London, South Africa, Los Angeles, Toronto and other countries. It hosted the first of its two festivals at Cape Town’s Ostrich Ranch.
The complaints from patrons ranged from exorbitant drink prices to the lack of organisation in the parking area, where they claimed there were no signs or marshals to assist patrons.
“The audacity of you to post about the after party when concertgoers are telling you that they couldn’t leave the venue to even attend this party. Hhayi [no], guys,” commented Lebo Shu on Instagram.
Another attendee said they found themselves walking on the highway after the show.
“Not us having to walk along a highway to be able to make it out of there, such an unserious festival. kaytra was amazing, but that parking situation was ghetto,” said Hannah Wells.
It’s yet to be seen how 2026 will unfold for the festival landscape in South Africa, particularly with Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie calling for an investigation into festival funding over the past five to 10 years. This after stating that organisers’ expectation of funding has become a “form of entitlement”.
The relationship between the government and the private sector will play a significant role in how outcomes unfold in the coming year.
NOW READ: Gayton McKenzie calls for probe into festival funding, says it’s become ‘a form of entitlement’
