Cape Town is calling on 1,400 people to raise their voices together in a mass singing experience celebrating community, social cohesion and South Africa’s diversity.
World Singing Day Cape Town 2026 will take place at Groote Kerk in Adderley Street on Saturday, 17 October, transforming the audience from spectators into members of one enormous choir.
Hosted by non-profit community choir The Heartsong Collective and PBO Uthando South Africa, the event will bring together professional musicians, community, school and church choirs, families and members of the public.
South African singer Vicky Sampson and Khayelitsha-based singer-songwriter Mohau Moahloli will make guest appearances as Cape Town joins communities around the world marking the 15th annual World Singing Day.
The concept is deliberately simple: you do not need to be a professional singer to participate.
Lyrics will be provided and people from different ages, cultures, faiths, communities and musical backgrounds will be encouraged to sing together.
For organisers, that inclusivity is central to the event’s message of Ubuntu and social cohesion.
“This is not simply a concert. The audience becomes the choir,” said Heartsong Collective founder Lynne Poulsen.
“Singers from community, school and church choirs will join professional and community musicians, while members of the public will be invited to sing alongside them.”
At the heart of the evening will be a South African adaptation of Matisyahu’s “One Day”, alongside songs including Lionel Richie’s “Love Oh Love”, World Singing Day song “Room for Everyone” and Johnny Clegg’s “Osiyeza”.
World Singing Day was founded in 2012 by Colorado musician Scott Johnson and takes place annually on the third Saturday of October. Its central message is “Sing together. Unite the world.”
Cape Town’s participation will add a distinctly South African sound to the global initiative, drawing on the country’s long tradition of using music to express identity, resistance, celebration and hope.
Sampson said music has played an important role throughout her career in connecting people across social, racial, religious and cultural differences.
“I have felt how our music changes hearts and lifts spirits over the years,” she said.
“Even during Apartheid, music played a very significant role in building our morale, giving us courage and uniting us to stand against the evils of human unkindness and intolerance. It is still doing this, even today.”
The event will also turn the collective singing experience into tangible social support.
A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit the Red Cross Memorial Children’s Trust and the SA Children’s Home, while five choirs will receive sponsored participation to help widen access to the event.
That social purpose builds on The Heartsong Collective’s smaller 2025 World Singing Day event at Kalk Bay Community Hall, where audiences were similarly encouraged to become part of the performance.
This year, organisers are scaling the concept dramatically, with a target of 1,400 voices inside one venue.
“We want people to leave feeling that, for a moment, they belonged to something bigger than themselves,” Poulsen said.
“When 1,400 people breathe together, sing together and hear their voices become one, something very powerful happens. It reminds us that despite our differences, there is so much we share.”
World Singing Day Cape Town takes place at Groote Kerk, Adderley Street, from 18:30 to 21:00 on Saturday, 17 October 2026.
General admission costs R200, choir group bookings are R100 per person and disadvantaged choir groups can participate for R50 per person.
