Victoria Wes Kunstefees 2026 to put Apollo Theatre centre stage

The Apollo is both an inheritance and an opportunity for Victoria West. The September festival creates a rare opportunity for people to make the journey to one of the Karoo's best kept secrets.

View the program here: September 5 - 8. September 9 - 12.

Victoria West will turn its historic Apollo Theatre and surrounding venues into a meeting place for visual art, music, theatre and hands-on creativity when the Victoria Wes Kunstefees runs from September 5 to 12.

The eight-day programme moves between the theatre, Applous Café and the Victoria West Golf Club. The event will combine headline performances with workshops, exhibitions, children’s activities and several free community events.

A festival spread across town

The Victoria Wes Kunstefees opens on Saturday, September 5 with a free festival market outside Applous Café. From 09:00 to 15:00, visitors can browse stalls and enjoy music, food and drink, along with art activities for children.

A charcoal workshop will be held at the café from 12:00 to 14:00 at R250 per person. The evening programme begins at 18:00 with the gallery opening and prize-giving, followed by a performance from singer-songwriter André Swiegers. Admission to the evening event is R200 per person.

Sunday begins with brunch at Applous Café from 10:00 to 12:00, with three breakfast options available from R65. Booking is essential. A free praise and worship evening will be held in the theatre from 18:00.

The gallery and café will be open during the week. An art competition takes place at the Apollo on Monday, with participants entering free and spectators paying R15. Tuesday brings a creative clay workshop for adults, while a children’s clay session follows on Thursday afternoon.

Left: Entering the historic Apollo Theatre in Victoria West. Right: Inside, the theatre still retains its vintage charm. Photos: Louis Botha.

Music, books and theatre

Wednesday evening moves beyond the Apollo complex to the Victoria West Golf Club for An Evening of Fragrance and Music. The event promises local artistic talent as well as music and food from 18:30, with tickets priced at R300 per person.

Books enter the programme on Thursday at Applous Café. Daniël Lötter will present Douwenis, while Elsabé Bester will introduce Belowe My during a free book launch and reading from 18:00 to 19:00.

Young audiences will get their own introduction to live performance on Friday. The children’s theatre production B is vir Boelies will be staged twice at the Apollo Theatre, first from 09:00 to 10:00 and again from 11:00 to 12:00. Tickets cost R15 per person.

Friday ends with a stargazing evening beginning at the theatre at 18:00. Tickets are R50. The festival closes on Saturday, September 12 with a performance by pianist and entertainer Rocco de Villiers. Doors open at 18:00 for the 18:30 show, with tickets priced at R250.

From café screenings to an Art Deco landmark

The Apollo's history dates back to a time when early bioscope shows were held in Victoria West during the 1910s. Car dealer Phillip Vos reportedly screened films in the town’s synagogue, where audience members sat on used motorcar seats.

After the Victoria West Town Hall was completed in 1911, Vos rented it for regular screenings. The site occupied by the Apollo was then home to the Good Hope Café, which was later managed by Greek immigrant Andrew Aristides Bassil.

Bassil expanded the café and added a bioscope before developing a broader business that included the café, cinema and hotels. In 1956, he demolished the old café and replaced it with a modern complex that included a new café, shop and cinema. Heritage accounts record that the upgraded Apollo opened in March 1957.

The historic Karoo theatre closed in 1981 and was later declared a heritage site. The theatre remained shut for years before David and Gail Robbins helped reopen it in 1995. Annual film festivals followed until 2006, after which the venue entered another difficult period.

Community members began working to revive the building again in 2017. Renovations supported by Lottoland Help ’n Dorp were completed in 2023, while a volunteer management team took responsibility for organising events and helping the venue remain operational.

The building still has its original features including seating, projection equipment and pictures of past film stars. The theatre is South Africa’s only operational Art Deco film theatre.

A theatre that must keep working

The Apollo’s importance derives from its ability to have meaning for its community. This festival puts the theatre back in active use while extending its reach into the café and wider town. Children can encounter live theatre, artists can exhibit their work and visitors can experience a rare piece of South African cinema history.

The Apollo is both an inheritance and an opportunity for Victoria West. The September festival creates a rare opportunity for people to make the journey to one of the Karoo's best kept secrets.