LUUKHANYO AND THE HII ROLLERS
Widely recognised as one of the most compelling new voices in South Africa’s rising alternative wave, Cape Town–born LUUKHANYO is a genre-shifting rapper, vocalist, and storyteller whose work blends contemporary R&B, hip-hop, funk, and jazz with the emotional depth of soul and the boldness of poetic vulnerability. His stage presence, fashion sense and cinematic visual language have become part of a growing artistic identity.
With LUCKY UU, LUUKHANYO stands at a point where music, film, style and narrative are beginning to weave together into something singular. As he continues to explore new collaborations, new forms, and new expressions of voice, he remains rooted in the emotional honesty that has defined his work from the beginning, a commitment to crafting art that resonates deeply, speaks truthfully, and lingers long after the final note.
CLOUDSURFERS (Netherlands)
A new era is dawning for Cloudsurfers. With a sharper sense of melody and a broader sonic palette, the five-piece band from Nijmegen is pushing its sound forward without sacrificing the explosive energy and controlled chaos that put them on the map. This new chapter is all about growth: harder-hitting where it counts, more layered where it matters, and as brutally wild as a rogue bull charging through the mosh pit.
Cloudsurfers’ mutated blend of garage punk, grunge and indie rock still crackles with urgency and intensity. While their earlier work thrived on sheer momentum and friction, the new material reveals a deeper sense of dynamics: songs that breathe, hooks that stick, and melodies that effortlessly fight their way to the forefront through a wall of guitars.
MOSKITOS
New generation, vivid modulation, fuzz-dream reverberation. Moskitos is a three-piece psych-garage outfit from Cape Town, South Africa, blending propulsive grooves, fuzz-drenched guitars and vivid analogue tones into immersive sonic journeys. Drawing from early psychedelia and garage rock, the band thrives on stylistic switch-ups and extended jams that can drift from sun-soaked jangles to full-throttle freak-outs.
Blending psychedelic guitar manipulation with infectious hooks, Moskitos draw from The Kinks and Nuggets-era bands, while embracing influences ranging from Black Sabbath and the Beach Boys to Thee Oh Sees and The Smile.
OH! THOSE GUYS
Two best friends that found each other in Joburg in 2016. Bonding over a mutual love of hip hop, R&B and tequila, they started DJing in an effort to never have to listen to other people’s music again. While they’re happiest playing late 90s/early 2000s hip hop and R&B, they’ll often throw in some indie or psych to keep you on your toes.
ODWA BONGO
Odwa Bongo is a distinguished South African vocalist and one of the few prominent contemporary players of the uHadi - an indigenous Xhosa musical bow. Renowned for his expansive vocal range, soulful delivery, and deep cultural commitment, Bongo’s work blends traditional sound with modern expression, captivating audiences across the country and beyond.
MAYA GREY
Maya Grey is a Cape Town-based folk musician blending dreamy melodies with imaginative storytelling. Inspired by fairytales and the natural world, her music resonates themes of nostalgia, mysticism, and magic in nature. Since 2023, Maya Grey has been slowly emerging into the city’s independent music scene, putting on performances that invite listeners into a world that feels both timeless and deeply personal.
EMMALEEN TANGLEWEED
Namibian born, solo musician and songwriter, Emmaleen Tangleweed, is based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her full length albums Songs from the Unseen, the Unsaid and the Unborn (2022), The Sun will Still Shine when you Die (2023) and The Weaving (2026) showcase gothic blues and folk storytelling and guitar artistry.
Tangleweed’s music has been relaunched through independent label Cruel Nature (UK).
WATA MAMI
Wata Mami is a Cape Town-based DJ & musician known for her genre-bending sets. Drawing from disco, acid, electro and house, her sets take you on a journey of deep grooves, nostalgic gems and unexpected twists that keep the dance floor moving!
AMY AYANDA
Cape Town-based musician, painter and mother of three, Amy Ayanda finds her way back to herself through songwriting. After a few quieter years, she has returned to making music with a renewed sense of purpose, weaving together intimate stories of love, loss and everything in between.
Drawing inspiration from the timeless songwriting of Joni Mitchell and Karen Dalton to the contemporary sounds of Phoebe Bridgers and Andy Shauf, Amy has been quietly creating a beautiful new collection of songs alongside collaborators Daniel Breiter and Mark Watters.
With new music arriving in early 2027, we're delighted to welcome Amy back into the festival family and onto the Hazy Dreams stage this March. A familiar face, a new chapter, and plenty of beautiful music to share.
BLK JKS
Quintessential mavericks and reluctant anti-hero’s, with their second album the prodigal sons of Africa’s underground alternative rock scene returned amongst a flurry of devilishly beguiling horns and transcendental drums, crashing like waves against a glittering shore of celestial guitars.
BLK JKS after a storytellers session at the Soweto theatre in 2017 locked themselves up to record their mythical follow up to their gargantuan debut ‘After Robots’, coming up for air, hard drives stolen, only to headline the 1st AfroPunk in Africa, with Thandiswa Mazwai - the result of this period and conversations with their audience was the magical, vulnerable ‘Abantu/BeforeHumans’ (2021) which was followed by a wide UK/EU/Scandinanvia tour in 2022 that led them right back to the studio - and now, BLK JKS as ever are ready to rock again.
UGLY BABY
Ugly Baby is a post punk sludge pop band based in Cape Town. If you’ve seen the five-piece before, you know what to expect: equal parts poetry and theatricality, sincerity and spectacle - chaos with heart.
YNDIAN MYNAH
Yndian Mynah is a South African instrumental band based in Cape Town. Their sound can be described as post-rock music with hints of dreamy psychedelia, post-punk and prog rock that vacillate sounds between explosive edges and nostalgic narratives. Influenced by DIY culture, the band started off by playing tightly packed intimate floor shows and quickly elevated to festival stages across South Africa.
Staying away from conventional rock music, Yndian Mynah is not bound by language or genre, allowing for impressive high-energy live shows that focus on a visual and instrumental journey, left wide open for personal interpretation. Expect large guitar- driven songs lead by spontaneous structural changes, with a tendency for heavy breakdowns and momentary euphoria.
BEAST
Cape Town was brought to bed BEAST during the fecund music scene of the early twenty-teens. Those days showed the eight-nipple super group mounting club and festival stages, drenched in water from head to toe, a tangle of bare chests and a push-up bra. By 2014, the rock brute had settled into its facial features with the release of their sophomore album,
Bardo. As the title suggests, the band entered an 8-year in-between by 2015. Birthing death, the Armchair Theatre hosted a soft comeback for BEAST in 2023, marking a joyful return to the burgeoning local music scene up to the present. As 2026 draws to a close, the band returns to the black light of the womb for their next accouchement. Come witness their rebirth.
