Cape Town's Year in Events: What 2026 Has Delivered, and What Still Awaits

Half the calendar is now history. Kaapse Klopse opened the year, Mining Indaba and the Art Fair filled February, and a three-week endurance corridor in March and April put 28,000 cyclists, ~13,000 trail runners, 1,200 mountain bikers and a marathon field on the Peninsula's roads. Today, Sunday 24 May, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is being run with Eliud Kipchoge in the field. From June onward the calendar pivots to film, books, and the All Blacks.

2026 by the numbers

Six datapoints frame the year so far. Cape Town's event economy has run hot, and the rugby Test in August will push it hotter.

The calendar at a glance

A horizontal year, with category colours and a red marker on today. Multi-day events are bars; single-day events are dots.

Who pulls the biggest crowds

Headline 2026 attendance, in participants or paid spectators where available. The Cycle Tour and Marathon dominate by mass-participation count; the Test in August will be the largest single-venue event of the year at 55,000 capacity.

Done and dusted: January to May

Six months, six headline events, plus the marathon happening as this goes live. Below: what happened, what the numbers were, and who won.

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Still to come: June to December

Seven headline events remain. The 29 August Test against the All Blacks is the largest single ticket on Cape Town's 2026 calendar, with cheaper categories already sold out and the cheapest remaining seats at R1,650. Encounters Documentary Festival opens 4 June at the Labia, and Open Book Festival returns in September.

Endurance scale: distance vs field size

Cape Town's four headline endurance events span four orders of magnitude in selectivity: from the Cape Epic's invitation-and-lottery 1,200-rider field to the Cycle Tour's 29,000-strong start line. Looked at as distance per participant, they are remarkably distinct products.

Event (2026)	Distance	Field size	Cut-off	Winner's time	Entry route
Cape Town Cycle Tour 109 km road cycle	109 km	29,000	7 hr	2:33:06	Open + ballot
Absa Cape Epic MTB stage race, teams of two	692 km	1,200	8 days	Braidot/Avondetto	Lottery + charity
Two Oceans Ultra Half on Sun, Ultra on Sat	56 km	~10,000	7 hr	3:09:25	Qualifier req'd
Two Oceans Half	21.1 km	~12,000	3 hr	1:03:17	Ballot
Sanlam CT Marathon Across the 6-race weekend	42.2 km	~10,000	6 hr	Today, live	Ballot + AGWC inv.

Ticket price spectrum, in ZAR

From a free Saturday 5 km to a R4,000 grandstand against the All Blacks. The Cycle Tour's pricing structure tiers by residency (local under R1,000, international up to R1,700+). Jazz Festival weekend remains under R1,500 for full access.

Practical notes

Five things worth knowing if you are planning a trip around a 2026 event.

Venue map

Five places anchor most of the 2026 calendar. CTICC handles indoor business and arts; DHL Stadium handles the rugby Test and Ultra; Green Point Fan Walk hosts the carnival, Pride and marathon finish; Kirstenbosch handles summer concerts; and the V&A Waterfront sits between most of them.

Tap a pin for venue context.