Kaytranada to headline Milk + Cookies Music Week in SA

Kaytranada will open Milk + Cookies Music Week in South Africa this December, returning to the country where he headlined the festival’s first edition in 2025 before a reported 20,000 people. For the tens of thousands of fans who have filled the festival’s Cape Town and Johannesburg crowds since its debut, the announcement sets the stage for a summer season of live music that begins well before the main event in January 2027.

The Grammy-winning producer and DJ later described his Johannesburg set as “definitely in my top 3 best performances & best crowd”. His return, organisers say, builds on that connection. Chase Freeman, chief marketing officer of Milk + Cookies, said bringing him back for the launch was a natural choice.

“We’ve been rocking with Kaytranada for over a decade, and he laid the blueprint for us in South Africa. When it came time to launch Music Week and set the tone for the 2027 season, there was no other phone call to make. He understands this community and the energy we’re bringing into the summer better than anyone,” Freeman said.

The December concerts take place in Cape Town on December 18 and Johannesburg on December 20, with rapper Lou Phelps joining Kaytranada at both shows. Each city will also host a line-up of South African artists. The Cape Town bill features Jinji, Kid Fonque, Kudbeu, Mamthug and Tumi Moliko, while Johannesburg audiences will see MCHLSN, Muzi, Shamiso, Thakzin and Yolophonik.

Music Week is designed as more than a series of concerts. The programme brings together music, fashion, wellness and community activities in the run-up to the festival, including exclusive merchandise collaborations, yacht parties, Dot Connector industry panels, writing workshops and community initiatives. Organisers say further programme details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Access to tickets begins with early sign-ups, which opened today, Monday, 9 November, at 12pm. Fans who registered get first access to a limited allocation of the lowest-priced tickets. Early access sales open on Wednesday, November 11, at 10am, with one lowest-priced tier available for each ticket type, general admission and VIP. Tickets are reportedly limited and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis; once the allocation sells out, early access will close and will not reopen.

General ticket sales follow on Thursday, November 12, at 10am via Howler, with three pricing tiers available for each ticket type. Prices start at R849.

Meanwhile, the Music Week programme leads into the third edition of Milk + Cookies Festival South Africa in January. Grammy and BRIT Award-winning singer Olivia Dean will headline the Cape Town event at Sandringham Farm on January 29, before performing at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on 31 January. She joins a line-up that includes Elaine, Zee Nxumalo, Chelsea Sloan and Jade T, with additional artists still to be announced. Her addition follows previous editions headlined by Kaytranada in 2025 and rapper Gunna in 2026.

In an earlier statement about the festival’s direction, Freeman addressed the range of artists on its South African bills. “People keep asking how Kaytranada, Gunna and Olivia Dean end up on the same bill. Never the same sound, always the same feeling. 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,” he said. “Three years in, that’s what South Africa has given us. We came here to put on a show and ended up building something with the people who live here, and it’s changed how we do this everywhere else.”

Founded in Atlanta by four friends, Milk + Cookies operates as a music and culture platform bringing together live events, fashion, food, art and design. Its South African edition has grown steadily since its 2025 debut, with organisers reporting more than 30,000 attendees across Cape Town and Johannesburg over its first two editions. With further Music Week details promised in the coming weeks, fans will be watching closely for what else the summer has in store.