Milk + Cookies Festival to return to South Africa in January 2027

The festival will take place in Cape Town on 29 January and Johannesburg on 31 January, bringing together music, food, fashion, art and design.

The upcoming edition follows two South African editions that organisers say attracted more than 50,000 attendees. The festival’s 2025 debut, headlined by Canadian producer Kaytranada, drew 20 000 people, while the following edition, headlined by US rapper Gunna, attracted more than 30 000 people across the two cities.

The 2026 edition also featured two weeks of Milk + Cookies Music Week programming and more than 50 local and international artists. According to the organisers, it supported more than 3,500 jobs across production, hospitality, venues and related services.

The festival has used different musical genres and headliners across its South African editions. Its organisers say the programming is designed around audiences rather than a particular genre.

“Never the same sound, always the same feeling,” Milk + Cookies head of marketing Chase Freeman said. “That's the only brief we've ever had. We book for the people in the room, not for a genre, and they come for what the room feels like as much as the name on the poster.”

The festival’s wider programme is expected to include panels, workshops, pop-ups and parties alongside the main performances. Organisers also say the programme will involve South African artists, creators, venues and commercial partners.

Milk + Cookies co-founder Kevin Reese said: “We came here to put on a show, and what we found changed how we do this everywhere else. Three years in, this isn't a visit. We build it with the people who live here, and it belongs to them as much as it does to us. The jobs, the vendors, the artists on the bill, that's the part we're proudest of.”

The South African artists participating in the 2027 edition are expected to be announced first, followed by the headliner. Details of the wider Music Week programme will be released in the coming weeks.