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First Thursdays: Spring Comes to the City
Thursday, 3 September 2026 | From 5pm
Cape Town welcomes spring with another edition of First Thursdays, bringing galleries, cultural spaces, restaurants, bars and streets across the central city to life after hours.
And this month, De Waterkant residents don't have to go far to join in. The evening begins right here in the neighbourhood with Café Manhattan's First Thursdays Street Fair, before the programme spreads through nearby Bree, Hout, Loop, Long and Church Streets.
The main First Thursdays programme runs from 5pm to 8pm, with many participating venues and events continuing well into the evening.
Main programme: 5pm–8pm, with some events continuing later
View the full First Thursdays Cape Town programme and interactive map
or check our helpful summary of venues near De Waterkant below
In De Waterkant
Café Manhattan First Thursdays Street Fair
Café Manhattan, 74 Waterkant Street | From 6pm
One of De Waterkant's best-known gathering places takes First Thursdays out onto the street with the Café Manhattan Street Fair. Expect an evening of market stalls, food, drinks and music, with local vendors and a strong LGBTQIA+ community presence bringing the corner of Waterkant and Dixon Streets to life.
The street fair has become part of Café Manhattan's evolving First Thursdays programme, providing a platform for community vendors alongside food trucks and an outdoor bar. It's an especially appropriate place to begin the evening – right in the heart of De Waterkant – before wandering towards the galleries and events of the central city.
160 Strand Street | 6pm–8pm
Also in De Waterkant, Ground Art Caffé continues ALTAR EGO by poet and ceramic artist Christi Steyn (Qwidi).
Inspired by childhood and sandcastles, the exhibition explores memory and the simplicity of childhood through Steyn's ceramic practice. Ground Art combines a coffee bar with an intimate micro-gallery dedicated to emerging artists, making it another easy neighbourhood stop before heading further into the city.
First Thursdays - Art & exhibitions nearby
Textura Animae – The Artists Gallery / 33BREE
34 Bree Street
Stephen Symons presents Textura Animae – Texture of the Soul, a collection of richly layered digital portraits bringing history into the present and reimagining figures and stories connected with Africa.
Built from more than a hundred digital layers, the works combine elements of classical portraiture with contemporary digital techniques, exploring history, identity and African culture.
A Very Loop Street Winter – EBONY/CURATED
67 Loop Street
EBONY/CURATED brings together painting, ceramics and mixed media by established and emerging contemporary artists in A Very Loop Street Winter.
The group exhibition considers place, memory, identity and materiality through a broad cross-section of the gallery's programme.
Hedonic Adaptation: Structures of Survival and Repair – Peffers Fine Art
92 Loop Street
At Peffers Fine Art, steel sculptures from the 1990s by the late South African modernist Edoardo Villa are placed in dialogue with contemporary works by Tshepo Sizwe Phokojoe.
Taking its title from the psychological concept of hedonic adaptation, the exhibition considers how individuals and societies become accustomed to discomfort, instability and harm, and asks whether art can interrupt that normalisation through attention and acts of repair.
Three-Part Play – 99 Loop Gallery
99 Loop Street
Xanthe Scout Lardner-Burke, Pia Truscott and Daniel Tucker bring three distinct artistic practices together in Three-Part Play. The exhibition arises from an ongoing critical dialogue between the three artists and brings their individual approaches together within one gallery space.
In Order of Appearance – WORLDART
68 Long Street, corner Shortmarket Street
Sotiris Moldovanos explores identity, urban culture and human connection through figurative paintings that move between recognisable human forms and abstraction.
The exhibition considers the people who enter, leave and shape our personal narratives – from fleeting everyday encounters to lifelong friendships.
Annual Wildlife 2026 – The Cape Gallery
60 Church Street
The Cape Gallery presents its Annual Wildlife 2026 exhibition, continuing the gallery's longstanding focus on fine art rooted in African experience and tradition.
Solomon Omogboye, Rodney Ghee & Featured Artists – 1895 Art Gallery
52 Burg Street & 54 Church Street
1895 Art Gallery presents works by Solomon Omogboye alongside Thandazani Ndlovu, Rodney Ghee, Lesley Charnock, Edward Selematsela and Manny Libuta, together with ceramics by John Bauer.
The Cape Town Photography Festival – Alliance Française du Cap
155 Loop Street
A little further up Loop Street, the Alliance Française hosts two exhibitions from the Cape Town Photography Festival, bringing new photographic perspectives and emerging creative voices into the September First Thursdays programme.
First Thursdays - Food, wine & music
First Thursdays at Black Betty – Sip, Shine & Stud
77 Hout Street
Black Betty combines jewellery, wine and live piercing for its Sip, Shine & Stud First Thursdays evening – a more social stop to add between gallery visits.
First Thursdays at Bo-Vine
101 Hout Street
Bo-Vine welcomes spring with dinner, wine and an in-house DJ. The music is deliberately pitched to add some First Thursdays energy without overwhelming conversation, making it an easy dinner or drinks stop during the evening.
First Thursdays at CHIMI
69 Shortmarket Street
CHIMI brings its late-night shopping concept to First Thursdays from its Shortmarket Street flagship, making it an easy addition to a walk between the surrounding galleries, shops, bars and restaurants.
First Thursdays - A little further afield
Art & Music Series – Signature Art Gallery
14 Long Street
The artist-owned Signature Gallery launches a new Art & Music Series, bringing contemporary African art, music and community together under one roof.
SoulFlo Sessions & Thrift Market – Harringtons
61 Harrington Street
Harringtons launches its new weekly SoulFlo residency with jazz, funk, neo-soul and Afro sounds.
Kujenga and Francesca Biancoli feature in the First Thursdays launch, followed by an open jam session, DJs and Evan Froud on saxophone. There is also a Thriftfest market and screen-printing activity.
Doors open from 4pm, with live music beginning at 7pm and free entry before 10pm.
Make an evening of it
One of the pleasures of First Thursdays is that there is no prescribed route – and for De Waterkant residents, this month's programme can begin almost at the front door.
Start at the Café Manhattan Street Fair, perhaps call in at Ground Art Caffé, and then wander up through Bree Street, Hout Street, Loop Street, Long Street, Shortmarket Street and Church Street. It's an easy walking route through a substantial part of the programme, with plenty of opportunities to stop for a drink or dinner along the way.
Most galleries are free to enter and there is no need to register for First Thursdays itself, although individual special events may have their own booking requirements.
View the full First Thursdays Cape Town programme and interactive map
Supporting Lungile Anthony Zonke
On the morning of 22 July, CCID public safety officer Lungile Anthony Zonke, known to many in the community as Anthony, was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident while on duty in Loader Street.
Anthony was struck by a vehicle that mounted the pavement and pinned him against a wall. He was transported to hospital with significant fractures to both legs and has required intensive medical care.
Anthony is a familiar and valued member of the public safety team serving De Waterkant. Members of the community have expressed their concern for him and their wish to offer practical support while he recovers.
How You Can Help
The De Waterkant Civic Association has established a community appeal to receive voluntary contributions for Anthony.
Donations may be paid into the DWCA bank account using the reference:
ANTHONY LUNGILE
The DWCA Treasurer will keep a record of all contributions received for this appeal, and the full amount collected will be transferred to Anthony.
Banking Details
Account name: De Waterkant Civic Association
Bank: Nedbank
Branch Code: 198765
Account Number: 1031338640
Payment reference: ANTHONY LUNGILE
Please ensure that the payment reference ANTHONY LUNGILE is included so that your contribution can be correctly allocated to the appeal.
Do you know of any events in our area that our members might be interested in?
Send us details:
communication@dwca.co.za
or Drop us a Note
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