EXCLUSIVE: Your Budget May Not Survive Cape Town’s Taste Festival This November!

ARE YOU HUNGRY?

Because what I’m about to tell you is about to destroy your budgets very respectfully.

Cape Town is getting the globally celebrated Taste Festival series on 28 and 29 November 2026 at Green Point Cricket Stadium, and already I can hear South Africans convincing themselves, “I’m only going for the experience.” “I’m not going to spend too much.” “I will eat before I get there.” LOL. Please. Be serious.

This is the type of event where you buy one small tasting plate for “just a quick bite,” then suddenly your card is tapping for oysters, truffle fries, smoked meat, cocktails with herbs floating inside them, and dessert you cannot pronounce but somehow NEED emotionally.

And someone is definitely going to check their banking app halfway through the festival and whisper, “Yoh!”

After taking over cities like London, Paris, Dubai and São Paulo, the luxury food and lifestyle festival is finally landing in South Africa with world-class chefs, live cooking experiences, artisan markets, music, wine, fire and enough flavour to make people temporarily forget their problems.

But what makes this even better is that Taste of Cape Town is not trying to be a copy of anywhere else. According to Executive Director Steve Steinfeld, this festival is proudly South African. From local chefs and Western Cape wines to the atmosphere, the food and the people, this is Cape Town showing off properly.

Now in this exclusive Q&A with Africa Jamz FM News, Steve talks about why local talent are the real stars of the festival, how Cape Town is ready for the global culinary spotlight, and the now-famous “Sunset Toast” moment where the entire festival pauses to raise a glass together before the night continues.

Lets hear what he had to say:

1. Steve, Taste is such a globally recognised brand. How are you making sure the Cape Town edition feels truly South African and not just a copy of other cities?

“We will not be borrowing from London or New York or Dubai. We are showing the rest of the world how Cape Town does a weekend. The Cape Town edition is built around South African ingredients, South African chefs, and the specific way people in this country gather around food. You will eat from kitchens that learned to cook in townships and kitchens that learned in Stellenbosch, and they will sit beside each other. The wine on the table is Western Cape. The beats are local. The sunset behind the venue is the Atlantic,” said Steve.

2. The festival promises to “Feed Every Sense.” What can guests expect to feel the moment they step into the space?

“There will be five sensory zones laid out across the venue, each one built around a different sense, and the festival is set up so you do not just visit them, you move through them. The smell of charcoal and citrus. The sound of an acoustic set carrying across the lawn. The texture of a tablecloth, a copper bar, a ceramic plate from a Cape potter. By the time the sun is setting, you realise you have been somewhere, not just at something,” said Steve.

3. Cape Town already has a strong food identity. How does this festival elevate the city onto an even bigger global stage?

“Cape Town’s food identity is already one of the strongest on the continent. The Test Kitchen, FYN, La Colombe, Wolfgat: these names sit on global lists year after year. What this city has lacked is a single moment that gathers all of that in one place, in front of a national and international audience, with the production values to match. That is the gap Taste of Cape Town fills. We are putting Western Cape produce, South African chefs, and local design talent on a stage that is built, lit, and broadcast like a major international event. The food has always been world class. We are giving it the room it deserves,” said Steve.

4. How important is it for you to spotlight local chefs, restaurants, and small producers in an event of this scale?

“It is not a feature of the festival. It is the festival. Every participating chef on our line-up is South African. Every wine on our official list is Western Cape. The producers we are working with on the ingredients side are small, named, and credited. We are not flying in international headliners and putting local talent in supporting roles. The headliners are local. South African food culture deserves to lead its own festival. And from a business point of view, an event that takes from the local economy without giving back is not a festival. It is an extraction,” said Steve.

5. If you had to pick one must-not-miss experience at the festival, what would you tell people to look out for?

“The Sunset Toast. At six o’clock each day, the entire festival pauses. Every restaurant stand stops serving for ninety seconds. A trumpet plays a single note. A chef from each zone steps forward and says one line about food, life, or Cape Town. We raise a glass together. Then service resumes. It is the moment that tells you what kind of festival this is. Every attendee will leave with that ninety seconds in their phone. I think it will become the signature image of Taste of Cape Town for years to come,” said Steve.

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