With every new year, the last year ends, and the new year starts with bright hopes and aspirations for each of us. Many of you might be looking forward to spending New Year’s Eve with parties, festivals, feasts, and all the fun. Let’s discover the Places to Spend New Year’s Eve in SA.
The Best 10 Places to Spend New Year’s Eve in SA
Here are ten suggestions for places in South Africa where you can spend New Year’s Eve with lots of activities and entertainment.
You can indulge yourself with rock concerts, river rafting, dance parties, orchestral evenings, beach dinners, or a festival of lights to celebrate the end of another year and usher in a brand new one.
1. The V&A Waterfront- Cape Town
The biggest New Year’s Eve party in South Africa is held at the V&A Waterfront. You will find a carnival atmosphere from 5 pm onward, where each zone will come alive with street performers, live music, buskers, Zip Zap Circus performers and a firework display.
While there are more than 80 restaurants, there are food trucks, caterers, and all the usual restaurants, pubs, and bars. You can walk to the Waterfront if you are nearby or take a MyCiti bus there as traffic becomes gridlocked around the Waterfront on New Year’s Eve.
Also read: December in South Africa: The Festive Season at its Finest
2. Kirstenbosch New Years Concert- Cape Town
If you love concerts, then this is the best place. There are many picnic-style concerts that attract hundreds of South Africans who come with their blankets to stay warm. The concerts start around 7 p.m. and continue until the New Year’s dawn. The New Year’s Eve concert features the hugely popular group Prime Circle Elvis Blue, Johnny, and many new pop rock bands.
Also Read: 6 Top Places to Visit in Cape Town
3. Clifton Beach- Cape Town
Visit the Clifton beaches to spend your New Year’s Eve. Clifton is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It is an exclusive residential area and is home to the most expensive real estate in South Africa, with dwellings on cliffs and sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.
You can have a picnic, candlelight dinner, or anything else to spend a quiet and more private New Year’s Eve. Vendors ply the beaches selling snacks and drinks, so spending a few hours on the beach without wandering far is possible.
4. Table Mountain- Cape Town
Table Mountain is the best place to visit on New Year’s Eve. You can watch the 2017 sunset over the ocean with panoramic views from Camps Bay and the harbour to the Tygerberg hills and the Cape Flats after 8 pm. Also, watch the fireworks, consider driving up to Signal Hill or Table Mountain where you can watch the display from even the comfort of your car.
Make a night of it by packing a picnic basket, and get there early for a good spot. If you’d prefer to skip the city centre altogether, you can also watch the fireworks from Milnerton Beach.
Also, read 10 Things To Do In Cape Town with Less Than R200.
5. Nederburg Wine Estate – Paarl
Celebrate New Year’s Eve away from the madding crowds here at Nederburg. The traditional concert starts at 9.30 pm with laidback classics and old-style charm. Pack a picnic and get there early enough for a good spot. The estate produces the Ingenuity Range, Manor House Range, Nederburg’s Winemaster Reserve Range and Foundation Range.
Three limited edition wines include a Cabernet Sauvignon, a dry Rosé, and a Sauvignon Blanc, which you can pair with their mezze platters, picnics, or gourmet seven-course meals, with each dish paired with some of Nederburg’s finest wines.
6. Kinky Summer – Franschhoek
Kinky Summer is brought to you by the minds behind We Love Summer and Kinky Disco. New Year’s Eve celebrations have been a sacred tradition for thousands of years. It’s a time to connect with your loved ones and friends to celebrate love and life together as the clocks return to zero and a new year is born.
You can enjoy a carnival-themed party here with acrobatics, an open-air cinema, a vast pool and three dance floors featuring DJs worldwide. The La Paris, Franschhoek-based party promises a place where imagination and whimsical delight are cherished and nurtured and offers transport to and from the venue.
7. Open Air Music Festival, Magaliesberg
This three-day open-air festival hosts two outdoor stages- the main stage (psytrance, progressive, full-on) and an electronic stage – a bar and restaurant, swimming pool and Tent Nation Hotel. This celebration of unity, by Jo’burg’s ‘underground dance music community, happens in the Magliesberg at Hornbill Lodge.
Revolution Live Band Festival considers itself an international community of bands, organizers, and audiences whose focus is live shows.
8. The smoking dragon – Drakensberg
Smoking Dragon provides a platform for musicians, performance artists and storytellers to celebrate New Year. Hosted by Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge, situated at the foothills of one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world, overlooking the Tugela Falls, enjoy three days of unbelievable music, non-stop adventure and a lovely crowd of like-minded music-lovers. New Year’s Jol” began to attract more and more people from far and wide, and the beast of a party asked to be named.
In winter, the berg is brushed with a dusting of snow, often foiling climbers’ attempts to summit its peaks. At night, local communities and hikers use fire for warmth and cooking. In the morning, mists rise to become the dragon’s smoke.
9. Festival of Lights- Nieu Bethesda
Nieu Bethesda is home to many artists, crafters, and other creatives seeking a more conducive way of life. An eternal spring bubbles on the plateau just above Nieu Bethesda. Its water rises from the village to flow downhill through the village’s network of furrows, one of the last working furrow systems still operating daily.
Nieu Bethesda is overlooked by Compassberg, the highest mountain in the Eastern Cape, and is lined on either side by hills. In this fertile valley lies a village waiting to enchant and delight. Night skies are clear, velvety and unforgettable, and the air is crisp and enlivening. Ancient pear trees and quince hedges edge the roads and fields. And even though the village has no streetlights, walking at any time of day or night is safe.
Everyone makes a spectacular lantern at a workshop at the Art Centre, or they make one for you, and after a performance, there is an evening parade through town beneath the stars to celebrate New Year. Join locals for a braai afterwards at the Bethesda Arts Centre, accompanied by a live band and dancing.
10. Street Party – Ballito North Coast
Described as ‘South Africa’s most famous street party’, Ballito New Year’s Eve is the most significant and loudest New Year’s Eve party, with five dance floors and several well-regarded DJs. You can pick who you will party with: Pascal and Pearce, Veranda Panda, Jamie K, G-Funk, Bhashkar, Brent Crude and Woody.
Thousands of party-goers flock to Sandra Road from 6 pm, and the crowd is packed by 8 pm as the DJs welcome the New Year and knock it out of the park with their crowd-pleasing hits.
Now, choose the best place in South Africa to celebrate New Year with full enthusiasm with your family and friends. There are many to select from where you can enjoy the best entertainment, luxury, and fun.
