Mzanzi Festival brings spirit of South Africa to St Helens

It’s only the second time the event has been held in the town, but Mzanzi Festival has almost doubled in size from last year with an expected 1,000 visitors for 2026. 

The Festival’s taking place this weekend, from Friday, July 24 to Sunday, July 26 at Liverpool St Helens Rugby Union Club in Moss Lane.

And organiser Jaqueline Jansen says: “It’s feeling good, and very exciting.

“Fingers crossed the weather will be fine but if not, it doesn’t matter, we’ll just dance and party through the rain.”

The Mzanzi Festival is the brainchild of mum-of-three Jaqueline, 43, and her friend, Henk Hattingh, whom she met after she came over to the UK with her family in 2022.

“A few years ago, Henk decided he was going to hold a spit braai (like a spit roast) for a couple of friends and 150 people turned up, and the next year he did it again and 300 people turned up,” says Jaqueline.

“That’s where we met him and became friends, and when he said ‘I think we need to go a bit bigger’, I said let’s do it.

“The year after we had the first festival.”

Jaqueline goes on: “People look forward to it. It’s about diversity, and it shows you it’s good to get everybody together for a weekend of South African food, music and culture, and to show the British what it’s all about … and make friends.

“We have all come over here for different reasons and are all really happy here in the UK, we enjoy it and love it here – but we also miss home, our grandparents, our traditions and the people. 

“So for us, it comes from a sense of longing for South Africa and for the things we can’t find here, and to celebrate the spirit of South Africa and share that. We’re very friendly and warm people.”

There will be plenty of activities like arts and crafts and face painting at Mzanzi along with traditional South African food like potjie kos which is a type of stew, and bunny chow, where you take the inside out of a half loaf of bread and fill it with curry, using the pieces of bread taken out to dip in.

There’s also South African sausages, pancakes, and koek sisters – a doughnut style plait that’s deep fried and put in syrup, and more.

A popular husband and wife-led band called Hopeless Romantics is being flown in from South Africa to perform, and The African Queens of Umzansi will play traditional African music.

‘Mr G’ will perform South African drum sessions and storytelling, as well as well as teaching people how to play the drums, and Pieter Dorfling will sing and play guitar.

More music will come from the Lipstick Band.

“We have a community of around seven families who are all Afrikaans-speaking South Africans and we spend Christmases together, weekends together, and birthdays together, and it’s about us creating a weekend together that feels like home and inviting others to share it with us.

“The atmosphere is going to be amazing this year because a bigger festival means bigger and better vibes.

“We have a 1,000 capacity and we’ve already sold 800 tickets and, while you can turn up and pay on the gate, we don’t want to have to turn anyone away, so we’d really like everyone to get tickets in advance.

“We keep prices low because it’s not about making money but people having a great time so it’s £12 for a day visitor.”

Jaqueline smiles: “It’s going to be three days of live music, good people and unforgettable memories.”

Find out more information about Mzanzi Festival 2026 here.

Find out what’s happening this Summer for the kids across Liverpool here.

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