Cape Town International Jazz Festival Tickets

Africa's largest jazz festival, indoors at the CTICC

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival (often shortened to CTIJF) is a two-night music festival held each year in late March or early April at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), in the city center near the V&A Waterfront. It is often described as Africa's largest jazz festival and the fourth largest in the world. The most recent edition, the 23rd, ran March 27 and 28, 2026. The 2027 lineup was listed as coming soon on the festival's site as of October 2026.

Despite the name, the programming is broad. Jazz anchors it, but the stages also carry funk, Afropop, fusion, soul, R&B and, in recent years, amapiano (the South African house style built on log-drum bass). Because the festival takes place inside a convention center, it goes ahead rain or shine, and there is no camping or field to cross, which sets it apart from outdoor festivals.

From North Sea Jazz Cape Town to the CTIJF

Rashid Lombard and Billy Domingo founded the festival in 2000 as the North Sea Jazz Festival Cape Town, a partnership with the Dutch North Sea Jazz Festival. The partnership ended after 2005, and the event has been the Cape Town International Jazz Festival since 2006. It is produced by the events company espAfrika.

• Venues: the Good Hope Centre hosted the first editions (2000–2003); the festival moved to the CTICC in 2004.
• Growth: attendance rose from about 14,000 in 2000 to about 34,000 by 2013. Wikipedia cites an estimate that the 2010 edition contributed R740 million to the Western Cape economy.
• Hiatus: the festival was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 edition was postponed, with organizers citing delays and uncertainty over load shedding (South Africa's rolling power cuts). It returned in 2024.

The four stages and past headliners

As of the 2026 edition, the festival ran four main stages, with sets overlapping across both nights:

• Kippies hosts the major international acts.
• Manenberg carries high-energy sets.
• Moses Molelekwa leans toward contemporary and experimental jazz.
• Rosies is the intimate room for more relaxed, acoustic jazz. Capacity is limited, and entry has historically carried a small extra charge on top of the festival ticket.

Selected headliners from the festival's history:

• 2000: Herbie Hancock and Hugh Masekela.
• 2011: Herbie Hancock and Erykah Badu.
• 2012: Lauryn Hill and James Ingram.
• 2014: Erykah Badu and Black Coffee.
• 2026: Abdullah Ibrahim, Jacob Collier (in his South African debut), Yellowjackets (their first appearance since 2005), Fatoumata Diawara, Nduduzo Makhathini, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse and the amapiano duo Scorpion Kings.

Day tickets, weekend passes and when to buy

The ticket structure is simple. For 2026, the festival sold tickets through Ticketmaster in two forms:

• Single-day tickets for Friday or Saturday, the right choice if one night's headliners matter most to you.
• Weekend passes covering both nights, sold in limited numbers, so they can sell out before single-day tickets do.

Demand moves with the lineup announcements, and international headliners on a given night push that day's tickets up. Because the stages overlap, a day ticket rarely lets you see everything; study the schedule and decide which room you will stay near during the peak hours. Arrive early if a Rosies set is a priority, since its limited capacity fills quickly. Every GoodSeats order is backed by a 100% guarantee.

Jazz week in Cape Town: the free concert and more

The festival is the center of a larger week. Each year a free open-air community concert in Greenmarket Square, in the city center, opens proceedings a couple of days before the main event. In 2026 it ran on March 25 from 4 to 10 p.m., headlined by Sheila E. and the E-Train.

• Jazz in the City on Bree Street filled the night before the 2026 festival with a circuit of mostly free performances.
• Montreux Jazz Festival Franschhoek ran March 27 to 29, 2026, in the Winelands about an hour away, and a dedicated shuttle connected Franschhoek with the CTICC.
• Masterclasses with visiting and local musicians were offered free during the 2026 festival.

Cape Town hotels near the Waterfront and the city center book early for festival weekend, and staying within walking distance or a short ride of the CTICC makes late finishes easier.

Practical tips for festival nights

A few things make the two nights at the CTICC go more smoothly:

• Dress in layers. Late March weather in Cape Town is variable, and crowded halls warm up during the night.
• Wear comfortable shoes. The stages are spread through a large building, and moving between them involves a lot of walking and standing.
• Plan your route. Build a stage-by-stage plan from the published schedule, and accept that two sets you want will probably clash.
• Arrange your ride home. Thousands of people leave at once after the last sets, so book transport in advance or stay nearby.

Check the official Cape Town International Jazz Festival site for the current schedule, entry rules and permitted items before you go.

Sources

• Wikipedia – Cape Town International Jazz Festival
• Cape Town International Jazz Festival – Official site
• Mail & Guardian – CTIJF composes its new era (2026)
• IOL – How to plan your CTIJF experience early (2026)
• Business Report – CTIJF returns in 2026
• Time Out Cape Town – Plan your jazz weekend (2026)
• Tourism Update – CTIJF postponed (2023)