Time Out – World’s 20 Best Cities for Art & Culture in 2026 – Cape Town at Number 5 just below London, Paris, New York, and Berlin! CONGRATULATIONS to the Mother City.
- Time Out quizzed over 24,000 urbanites to rank the best cities on the planet for music, art, theatre and more.
“Every year, Time Out sets out to find today’s cultural capitals, where enviable art collections, brilliant theatre, music and cultural celebrations are accessible and affordable to locals and visitors. To create the list this year, we asked 24,000 locals in over 150 cities to rate the quality and affordability of the culture scene where they live, and to tell us exactly what their city does best, from comedy and carnivals to live music and literature. We then combined their responses with the insight of Time Out’s culture panel – editors, writers and local experts – who voted for the cities they think are particularly exciting places to visit for culture and the arts right now. To ensure the list reflects the best cities for culture globally, we included only the highest-scoring cities for each country.”
Cape Town’s culture scene is deeply layered and always evolving. Africa’s collective creativity is anchored at the Zeitz MOCAA and in the Norval Foundation‘s contemporary sculpture garden. You can catch the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra at City Hall, home to a bronze statue of Nelson Mandela honouring his first address to the nation after his release from prison. The Labia remains the city’s beloved home of independent arthouse cinema, while comedy and theatre thrive at the iconic Baxter and Artscape. Each February, the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, as the continent’s largest, draws international art collectors; while First Thursdays brings locals out on a free-to-attend art crawl at the start of each month. In 2026, Cape Town is experiencing a blockbuster year for art – brand-new cultural moments include the recent immersive digital art installation LUMENOCITY and the limited-edition Veuve Clicquot’s Emotions of the Sun’s Magnum Photos collaboration.
How it ranked: Capetonians in our survey were overwhelmingly positive about their city’s art and culture scene, giving it an 84 percent approval rating and a 60 percent score for affordability. As for what Cape Town does best? Festivals and live music, according to 57 and 59 percent of respondents, respectively.
“Across its 350-plus years as a port city – and a few thousand more as the home of semi-nomadic indigenous tribes and pastoralists – the Western Cape has a rich and colourful history to discover. From the unadorned beauty of ancient rock art to the arrival of colonial settlers, and right through to the city’s vibrant art scene of today, Cape Town’s galleries and museums paint an expansive picture of the city’s complex cultural history.” Selene Brophy City Editor, Time Out Cape Town.
And to find your way around to the leading Museums and Galleries in Cape Town – pick up a copy of the Art Craft + Museums Map! You’ll find. IZIKO South African museum and slave Lodge, Zeitz MOCAA, Robben Island Museum, Norval Foundation, are some of the more than 50 locations on the map. And checking in to mapmyway.co.za will keep you informed about art and culture in Cape Town and surrounds!
WHAT: Cape Town NUMBER 5 – The world’s 20 best cities for art and culture in 2026
WHERE: Cape Town
WHEN: 13 May 2026
INFO: MapMyWay | Fb | IG | The world’s 20 best cities for art and culture in 2026 Edited by Grace Beard Travel Editor | The 12 best museums and galleries in Cape Town to explore Katherine Alex Beaven & Richard Holmes
The WHAT, WHY & WHERE of the
arts scene in around Cape Town
see the 2026 art craft + museums map
and listen in to the
Arts Round Up on Fridays @12:45
on Fine Music Radio FMR 101.3fm
The FMR App makes it even easier to tune into the Arts Round Up on Fridays! i-Phone HERE | Android HERE
Another reason Cape Town is placed 3rd in Time Out’s World’s Best Cities for Culture
