Cape Town Minstrels Carnival 2026 – Everything You Need To Know!

The iconic Cape Town Minstrel Carnival returns to the Mother City on 5 January 2026.

Now known as the Hollywoodbets Cape Town Street Parade, this annual event is the longest existing carnival in the city and is an integral part of the city’s cultural heritage. Historically this celebration took place on 2 January aka Tweede Nuwe Jaar and the minstrels were to referred to as the Kaapse Klopse – this celebration the Mother City’s biggest event to usher in the New Year.

What To Expect at the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival

Thousands of minstrels in glittery uniforms from a variety of troupes with face paint, hats and parasols march through the city’s roads, playing their signature “ghoema” music on banjos, trumpets and drums. The troupes are spaced out so that each performance happens separately, allowing onlookers to hear each troupe. There is also a structure to each troupe, with non-instrument playing members called “voorlopertjies” leading the way with extravagant dance moves while the band provides the backing soundtrack.

Among this year’s troupe lineup you will see Original D6 Hanover Minstrels, Mitchells Plain Young Tycoons, Phantoms Community Development, Ashwin Willemse Orient Community Development, Young Wild Comanches, Manenberg Superstars, Carnival Boys Youth Development (also known as Crystal Palace), Wild Apache, Baruch Entertainers, CPT Hawkers, Fabulous Seawind Entertainers, and many more.

Experience The Magic

The parade is set to attract a crowd of 80,000 to 100,000 spectators, eager to experience over 16 minstrel troupes and 20,000 performers.

The parade will begin at the corner of Somerset Rd and Dixon St. The route
will follow along Somerset Rd all the way to the DHL Stadium.

Road Closures

To accommodate the parade and ensure public safety, several roads will be closed from 6am on Monday, 5 January to Tuesday, 6 January 2026.

Affected streets include:

Street/Road	Restriction		Between	Closure Time	Opening Time
Main Rd	Full Closure (residential access lane between Upper Portswood Rd & Highfield Rd)	York Rd	Buitengracht Street	06h00	23h59
Prestwich Street	Full Closure	Alfred St Granger	Chiappini Street	06h00	23h59
Somerset Road	East Bound closure	Bay Blvd Granger	Granger Bay Blvd	06h00	23h59
Fritz Sonnenberg	Full Closure	Bay Blvd Granger	Rd Portswood	06h00	23h59
Somerset Road	Full Closure	Bay Blvd	Buitengracht St	06h00	23h59
Ebenezer Road	Full Closure (Hotel Access only)	Prestwich St Javis	RD Somerset	06h00	23h59
De Smit Street	Full Closure	St Napier St Javis	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Moreland Terrace	Full Closure	St Schiebe St	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Napier Street	Full Closure	Dixon St	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Alfred Street	Full Closure	Prestwich St	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Dixon Street	Full Closure	Strand St	Javis St	06h00	23h59
Chiappini Street	Full Closure	Prestwich St	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Chiappini Street	Full Closure	Napier St Liddle	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Alfred Street	Full Closure (Hotel Access only)	St Beach Rd	Schiebe St	06h00	23h59
Prestwich Street	Full Closure	Portswood Rd	St Alfred	06h00	23h59
Cobern St	Full Closure	Granger Bay Blvd	Somerset Rd	06h00	23h59
Granger Bay Blvd	East Bound Carriage Closure	Helen Suzman	Helen Suzman	06h00	23h59
Fort Wynyard St	Full Closure	Blvd	Granger Bay Blvd	12h00	23h59
Fritz Sonnenberg	Full Closure		Beach Rd
Vlei Road	Full Closure		Fritz Sonnenberg Rd	12h00	23h59

Local access and permit holders:

Street/Road	Restriction		Between	Closure Time	Opening Time
Main Road	Permit Holders Only	Granger Bay Blvd	Three Anchor Bay Blvd	06h00	23h59
Granger Bay Blvd	Permit Holders Only	Helen Suzman Blvd	York Rd	06h00	23h59
Ebenezer Road	Permit Holders Only	Port RD	Prestwich St	06h00	23h59
Bennett Street	Permit Holders Only	Port RD	Prestwich St	06h00	23h59
Hudson Street	Permit Holders Only	Waterkant Street	Somerset RD	06h00	23h59
Hudson Street	Local Access Only	Hudson St	Strand St	06h00	23h59
Vos Street	Local Access Only	Vos St	Strand St	06h00	23h59
Rose Street	Local Access Only	Rose St	Strand St	06h00	23h59
Waterkant	Local Access Only	Buitengracht St	Waterkant St	06h00	23h59
Cavalcade Road	Local Access Only	York Rd	Upper Portswood Rd	06h00	23h59
Thornhill Road	Local Access Only	Cavalcade Rd	Upper Portswood Rd	06h00	23h59

Entry

The HollywoodBets Cape Town Street Parade is free for the public. Follow Cape Town Street Parade on Facebook, Instagram, and X, for the latest updates on the start route and other information.