HEY Hillbrow let's dlala

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - MAY 24: Performers and community members during the Hillbrow Street Parade starting at Windybrow Arts Centre on May 24, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dancers, musicians, and community members come together to celebrate creativity, resilience, and local organisations. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)
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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - MAY 24: Performers and community members during the Hillbrow Street Parade starting at Windybrow Arts Centre on May 24, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dancers, musicians, and community members come together to celebrate creativity, resilience, and local organisations. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius)

Thank you Alet Pretorius

PICTURES: Colourful Hillbrow parade entertains Joburg residents | The Citizen Performers took to the streets in Hillbrow over the weekend wearing colourful and creative costumes to honour community.

Over the past few months some incredible collaborations have culminated into a feast of expression and wonder, as Hey Hillbrow! Lets Dlala! took to the streets in a spectacle of dreaming, travelling through time, minds and hearts. So many had a hand in its creation, with deep care and creativity - in dreaming into fruition a reclamation of our future, in building a monochrome world but echoing all colours and each other. From Shade, the Windybrow Arts Centre, Market Theatre Foundation, and our curators/producers Tamzyn Botha and Daniel Buckland, we thank you deeply.
Groups: MES, Dlala Nje, Gcebile Dlamini Foundation, The Johannesburg Society for the Blind, Shade Youth, Lefika La Phodiso, Innovation of Excellence, Fight with Insight and the Windybrow’s choir, marimba players, junior art class and literacy group
Performance Facilitators: Philani Tensso Mhlanga, Lumka Dumezweni
Parade performers: Nkosilathi Ndebele, Leon Chimedza, Mlindeli Zondi, Brian Ngobese, Ezase Vaal Brass Band, Market Lab students, Sentech Croozers, African Reclaimers Organisation’s Rico Tshesane, Tsogt Bayagalan and Orlando Vargas of The Cirk.
Music: Ezase Vaal Brass Band, Thamsanqa Vuthela Band, Dizzy Brains, Styles Da Deejay
Stage Managers: Noxi Mabuza, Tshepo Matlala
Head Fabricator: David Gara
Art Team: Cammie Behrens, Thomas Chihovo, Andrew Whispa, Stuart Ndlovu, Rivaldo Tsambe, Percy Zimato, Wisdom Mpofu
Wardrobe: Orli Meiri, Gavaza Mthombeni, Kokoz
Media: Mpho Mukono, Percy Zimato, Johannesburg Photo Walkers & Mark Straw
Sound and Staging: Atomic Deedays and Muziya Music
Catering: Nosh Food Rescue
Media Partner: Johannesburg in your Pocket
Security: Bad Boyz Security - Dean Govender
Wardrobe: David Gouldie, Styled, Sous
Props: Reelhaus
JMPD: Tsepiso Raboene, Pinkie Mphahlele
JRA: Rhulane Ngobeni, Esther Schmidt
City of Joburg: Thembelihle Gumede
Support: Bafikile Mkhize - Hillbrow eKhaya Improvement District, SAPS Hillbrow
To our partners, African Reclaimers Organisation for the constant support and materials. Our reimaginings of the reclaimer bag is only a small token and homage to the work of these unsung heroes. Special shout out to Jade Bowers for the fabrications with your students and Ilse Wessels and your students for the step seed mural. And to the community of Hillbrow and beyond, thank you for sharing this time with us - bendy, loopy, twisty times.
Photography by Alastair Mclachlan

🎉 Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! 🎉
Saturday, 24 May 2025
📍 Windybrow Arts Centre
We’re turning up the vibe at Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! and you’re invited to celebrate the heart, soul, and rhythm of Hillbrow like never before. Expect music, art, stories and all the love this vibrant community has to offer! 🥳🕺🎶
🚗 Good news for drivers!
We’ve secured free parking for up to 35 cars at MES Dinaledi Pre-School, 68 Claim Street, Hillbrow. Look out for clear signage to guide you safely from the parking to Windybrow. It’s a short, safe stroll, and we’ve got your route covered.
🅿️ Need more options?
We’ve also got alternative parking at Ponte. But here’s our pro tip:
🚖 Uber, Bolt, or hop in a taxi to skip the stress of traffic and enjoy your day to the fullest!
Hillbrow’s coming alive, and you don’t want to miss this. Tell a friend, bring the fam, and let’s Dlala together! 💃🌍✨

Hey Hillbrow! Come Out To Play—The Streets Are Calling

The Windybrow Arts Centre, a division of The Market Theatre Foundation, and its partners are proud to present the sixth iteration of its annual parade, Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala!

Fun, joy and creative energies are set to fill the inner-city of Jo’burg this Africa Month as Hey Hillbrow! splashes the neighbourhood with colourful visuals and alters the soundscape with exciting frequencies. The parade, which cuts through Hillbrow and Doornfontein, takes place on 24 May 2025. It starts at 10am from The Windybrow Arts Centre, followed by a music concert featuring Thamsanqa Vuthela Band, Mozambique’s The Dizzy Brains and Styles Da Deejay of The Creators Room.

Launched in 2017, Hey Hillbrow! is a celebration of the possibilities that public performance brings to public space—to spread energy, laughter, surprise and provocation, and to make visible the wonderful work that several organisations and individuals have continued to do in impacting inner-city communities and spaces. It is once again curated by Tamzyn Botha, alongside Daniel Buckland and The Windybrow Arts Centre.

Hey Hillbrow! Come Out To Play—The Streets Are CallingThe Last Country – Market Theatre The Windybrow Arts Centre, a division of The Market Theatre Foundation, and its partners are proud to present the sixth iteration of its annual parade, Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala!