Up The Creek 2027: all you need to know

Start inflating the lilo! Up The Creek is heading back to the Breede River in February 2027, and organisers have announced the first batch of artists set to play one of South Africa’s longest-running outdoor music festivals.

First of all, mark your calendars: the 2027 edition runs from 11-14 February, with more than 50 artists across four stages over the four-day weekend. Tickets are limited to just 2500 festival-goers, keeping Up The Creek nice and intimate compared with many of South Africa’s larger music festivals.

Leading the first artist announcement is former Springbok Nude Girls frontman Arno Carstens – always a crowd-pleaser – alongside aKING, Barto, BCUC, Booshle G, Dierbaar, Georgetown, Keanan Eksteen, Magé, MaxX & Love, Pedro Barbosa and SUGARBIRD.

There are plenty more names still to come, with organisers promising more than 50 live performances across the weekend.

Carstens needs little introduction to South African rock fans. As frontman of the Springbok Nude Girls, he helped soundtrack the country’s alternative-rock explosion of the 1990s, before carving out a successful solo career spanning rock, pop and more atmospheric singer-songwriter material.

Also heading back to the festival circuit is aKING, the rock band from Bellville built around vocalist and guitarist Laudo Liebenberg. Formed in 2007, the group broke through with 2008 debut Dutch Courage, blending melodic rock with touches of folk, country and pop. Expect the sort of big, radio-friendly choruses that made tracks from their early albums staples of South African rock playlists.

Then there’s BCUC, or Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness, one of the most formidable live acts on the bill. BCUC came together in Soweto in 2003, and this seven-piece describe their sound as Afro-psychedelic, drawing on indigenous music, ritual and church songs, jazz, funk, punk, kwaito and hip-hop. Percussion, bass and chanting vocals drive sprawling live sets that can veer from hypnotic grooves to full-throttle musical catharsis.

But the music is only half of the magic of Up The Creek.

The festival has been held on the same patch on the banks of the Breede River, 23 kilometres south of Swellendam, since 1990, when what began as a surprise 40th birthday party became three days of bands, dancing and riverside revelry.

More than three decades later, this winning formula has changed little, with floating down the Breede between sets almost as important as who’s on stage. Expect campsites, swimming, food stalls, shaded chill-out areas, and the inevitable flotilla of increasingly elaborate inflatable devices bobbing past the riverbank.

And don’t go looking for a velvet rope. One of the festival’s enduring traditions is the absence of a VIP area, with artists and festival-goers sharing the same spaces throughout the weekend.

“Although live music is our core identity, Up The Creek has always been about so much more than just the music,” says festival director Caitlin Lotter. “There is a sense of community, groups of Creekers making the annual ‘pilgrimage’ back to the Breede, the sense of discovery, switching off from reality, disconnecting from the real world but connecting to the Creek.”

How do I get tickets for Up The Creek 2027?

The cheapest Early Creeker tickets (R1750), offering admission to the full four-day festival at the first-release price, have already been snapped up. Sorry for you! But Phase One Creekers (R1995) are available now. With numbers limited to just 2500 tickets for the 2027 event, it pays to act fast!

Up The Creek 2027

When: 11-14 February, 2027
Where: Breede River, outside Swellendam, Western Cape
What: Four days, four stages and 50+ artists
Tickets: Are on sale now via Howler.

Tempted? here's a taste of what 2026 had to offer!

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