With the summer heat cooling off, it’s the ideal time for a balmy evening in the city enjoying all that the April edition of all that First Thursdays has to offer.
Capetonians Michael Tymbios and Gareth Pearson launched the art, design and urbanism project in Cape Town in 2012, and since then First Thursdays has become something of an institution in the city.
And the concept is simple: On the first Thursday of each month inner-city galleries, shops and design studios stay open until late in the evening (usually around 9pm), allowing art loving locals and curious tourists to wander from gallery to restaurant to trendy boutique to cocktail bar.
An official guide is curated for each month, with the programme made available online at first-thursdays.co.za the week before the event. But, look forward to a few dozen galleries, bars and restaurants laying on special events and unique exhibitions that celebrate African creativity.
And for the April event – on Thursday, April 4 – visitors can look forward to an additional special programme in the Silo District, part of a quarterly series of events in this corner of the V&A Waterfront.
The main attraction at the Silo District is Zeitz MOCAA – one of Time Out’s best galleries in Cape Town – with half price admission (R125) from 6pm to 9pm. Current exhibitions include SALA; Mame-Diarra Niang: Self as a Forgotten Monument; Seekers, Seers, Soothsayers; Seismography of Struggle; and Past Disquiet, with guided exhibition tours, a DJ set in the museum's iconic atrium, art workshops, and more.
Across the district, attendees can look forward to a talk at the Cape Town Creative Academy, new exhibitions at Southern Guild, late shopping at Kat van Duinen and Kitchen Samurai, and food and drinks at The Yard, Si Cantina Sociale, and OUIBar at the Radisson RED hotel. Or, of course, you could take a wander across to the Time Out Market Cape Town for a bite of the best eateries Cape Town has to offer.
Done Zeitz MOCAA? Here are the best things to do in the V&A Waterfront.