First Thursdays Cape Town

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Ground Art Caffé Details verified

Coffee Shops · City Centre

Continental coffee bar on Strand Street that doubles as a micro gallery, hanging a new show of emerging artists roughly every two months.

Open now

Le Pickle Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Smash burger shop on Jarvis Street in De Waterkant, working with local suppliers and building everything — burgers, fries, sauces — by hand.

Closed

The Artists Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Artist-run exhibition space on Bree Street, established 2023, showing painting, sculpture and multimedia by the community of artists who run it.

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Signature Art Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Long Street gallery showing international, local and emerging artists side by side, with a working relationship with Cape Town's interior design trade.

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LEMKUS Details verified

Clothing · City Centre

Cape Town retailer trading since 1935 on St George's Mall, now a sneaker and streetwear destination with the Lemkus Gallery and its Residency28 programme upstairs.

Closed

Youngblood Africa Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Bree Street gallery founded to show artists from across the African continent, running emerging and established work in the same programme.

Open now

Bo-Vine Wine & Grill House Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Hout Street grill house serving locally sourced steak with a curated South African wine list, in a room that stays relaxed despite the prices.

Open now

Tannin Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Bree Street wine bar with over 430 South African wines, seasonal small plates and a rotating display of artwork on the walls. Instagram @tannin_on_bree.

Closed

Sisonke Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Gallery inside the Cape Heritage Hotel on Bree Street, showing local artists and building relationships between them and the people passing through.

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Black Betty Details verified

Gifts & Crafts · City Centre

Hout Street studio making handcrafted demi-fine jewellery, with a luxury piercing service in the same room.

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Ebony/Curated Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Contemporary African art gallery established in 2007, with spaces on Loop Street in Cape Town and in Franschhoek, showing established names alongside emerging talent.

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Museum of Gems & Jewellery Details verified

Museums · City Centre

Loop Street museum telling the story of South Africa's diamonds and precious metals, from the ground to the finished piece.

Open now

The Drinkery

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Contemporary cocktail bar on Shortmarket Street with a terrace over the historic Heritage Square courtyard.

Open now

Story Horse Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Irish bar on Bree Street set in a heritage building, run on the premise that every drink comes with a story attached.

Open now

The Blue Room Details verified

Live Music · City Centre

Live music and cocktail lounge at 103 Bree Street, given over to jazz and the blues. Booking recommended.

Open now

Culture Wine Bar Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Bree Street wine bar pouring fine South African wines from the country's most respected estates alongside cult classics, natural wines and special imports.

Open now

The House of Machines Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Shortmarket Street bar blending coffee, cocktails, motorcycles and live music, with a menswear and bike shop attached.

Closed

Gallery F Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Shortmarket Street photography gallery dealing in rare vintage prints alongside contemporary work redefining Africa's visual record.

Open now

Noah at Charles Hope Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Restaurant and bar on the Shortmarket and Loop Street corner in the CBD, built around bold flavours and a busy room.

Closed

Ultraviolet Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Contemporary art photography gallery on Shortmarket Street, showing bold new work and running an in-house framing service.

Closed

CHIMI Details verified

Clothing · City Centre

Cape Town flagship of the Swedish eyewear label, on Shortmarket Street, trading on a European late-night shopping rhythm.

Closed

WORLDART

Art Galleries · City Centre

Long Street gallery working since 2004 as a pioneer of urban art from Africa, with a consistent programme of emerging and established artists.

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Peffers Fine Art Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

First-floor Loop Street advisory and dealership specialising in modern and contemporary African art, working largely through private placement.

Open now

Clarke's Bar & Dining Room Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Long-standing Bree Street institution known for all-day breakfasts, its cheeseburger and classic cocktails, with room for large bookings.

Closed

Dweba Art & Café Details verified

Coffee Shops · City Centre

Longmarket Street art space and café founded by Thobile Ndarana as a room for artistic innovation and social commentary. Instagram @dweba_art_cafe.

Closed

99 Loop Gallery

Art Galleries · City Centre

Contemporary gallery on the corner of Loop and Church, focused on painting and on artists working from intimate lived experience.

Open now

fable Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Cocktail bar on the corner of Bree and Wale, bringing the techniques of the world's best bars to a room built for Cape Town.

Open now

The Gin Bar Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Cape Town's original speakeasy, hidden behind the Honest Chocolate Café on Wale Street, pouring from a list of over 140 gins.

Closed

Cape Institute for Architecture Details verified

Attractions · City Centre

The Western Cape's professional body for architects, on Loop Street, running a regular public exhibition programme on architecture and urbanism.

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CHURCH Projects Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Small Church Street project space given over to experimentation and work that would not fit a commercial gallery.

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Eclectica Contemporary Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Church Street gallery running a continental programme that puts contemporary African work against the questions of a globalised world.

Closed

1895 Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Two-address Church Street gallery showing paintings, sculpture and fine art prints by Southern African artists.

Open now

Klok Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Afrofusion restaurant and terrace on Greenmarket Square at the Onomo Inn on the Square, with local wines, live entertainment and rotating art exhibitions.

Closed

Nel Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Artist-run contemporary gallery on the corner of Long and Church Streets, at the head of the Church Street gallery strip.

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The Cape Gallery

Art Galleries · City Centre

Church Street gallery dealing in fine art rooted in the African tradition — painting, sculpture and graphics carrying the continent's cultural stamp.

Closed

AVA Gallery

Art Galleries · City Centre

Non-profit, membership-based arts organisation on Church Street, advancing South African contemporary art and artists for over fifty years.

Closed

SMAC Gallery

Art Galleries · City Centre

Contemporary African art gallery founded in Stellenbosch in 2007, back in the Cape Town City Centre on Church Street since 2023 after a decade in Woodstock.

Closed

Mullers Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Exhibition space upstairs from Mullers Optometrists' Art Deco shopfront on Longmarket Street, hosting regular shows by local artists and studios.

St George's Cathedral

Attractions · City Centre

The 'People's Cathedral' of the anti-apartheid struggle, on Wale Street, open to the public on First Thursdays with a programme of performances.

Closed

Alliance Française du Cap Details verified

Attractions · City Centre

French cultural centre on Loop Street, hosting exhibitions by local and international artists in an intimate space, with wine and conversation attached.

Open now

Addis in Cape Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Ethiopian restaurant on Loop Street since 2007, serving traditional injera-based dishes — meat, vegan and seafood — in a modern African room.

Closed

The Corner Store Details verified

Gifts & Crafts · City Centre

Design-forward Bree Street collaborative space celebrating African creativity, from considered retail and slow luxury to bread out of its own oven.

Closed

Vela Projects Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Plein Street fine art gallery showing a boutique selection of local contemporary artists, both represented and not.

Closed

HUB Gallery Details verified

Art Galleries · City Centre

Home of the Spier Arts Trust on Commercial Street, backing South African art careers with an explicit social-transformation brief.

Open now

Lunacy Wine Bar Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Harrington Street wine bar in the East City: wine-led, cocktail-confident, with seasonal small plates that hold their own.

Open now

Harringtons Collective Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · City Centre

Several venues under one Harrington Street roof — Harrington's Cocktail Lounge, the Surfa Rosa dive bar and the District nightclub.

Open now

East City Grill Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Harrington Street steakhouse with a Japanese-style yakiniku barbecue across the room, so guests cook at the table as well as order from it.

Closed

Cape Film Supply Details verified

Art Supplies & Dealers · City Centre

Harrington Street lab and shop for high-end photographic film processing, film cameras, accessories and darkroom supplies.

Open now

Tambourine Details verified

Restaurants · City Centre

Harrington Street small-plates restaurant on a farm-to-fork model, with most of its vegetables grown on its own regenerative farm in Khayelitsha.

Open now

Museum of Illusions Details verified

Museums · Gardens

Kloof Street museum of optical illusions, visual tricks and hands-on interactive displays. Tickets from R200.

Open now

Rita's on Kloof Details verified

Bars & Taprooms · Gardens

Kloof Street rooftop bar for golden-hour cocktails and sunset views, entered through Hudson's, running late into the evening.

Open now

Chingadas Cantina Details verified

Restaurants · Gardens

Orange Street cantina bringing Mexican food and drink to Gardens, built for a room that is meant to be loud.

Open now

Tiger's Milk Kloof Street Details verified

Restaurants · Gardens

Kloof Street branch of the South African restaurant group, with a large outdoor section on one of the city's busiest evening streets.