Africa's First Light-Based Art Festival Arrives in Cape Town This Weekend

Cape Town hosts a historic cultural first this week. Africa's first large-scale festival dedicated entirely to light-based art and immersive creative technology runs April 9 through 12, turning the city's historic buildings, public spaces, and the V&A Waterfront into a walking gallery of video installations, laser-based sculpture, AI-assisted art, and interactive audio-visual performances. The festival features works by South African artists alongside international names, and most of the installations are free to the public.

The programming includes nightly activations at the V&A Waterfront, the Castle of Good Hope, and projection-mapped light works on Table Mountain's slopes visible from viewing points across the City Bowl. Meanwhile, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway's beloved Local is Lekker special (discounted tickets for South Africans — R250 adults, R100 kids) runs through April 30.

If you're going: most installations are most striking after dark. Start at the V&A Waterfront, walk into the City Bowl as the evening progresses. Uber is the reliable move at night.

Sources: Time Out Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism