Disco balls, drag performances and dancing from day to night – this was the objective of Tropical Disko, a bold new event bringing together Cape Town’s legacy of iconic outdoor musical festivals and thriving underground scene of queer music and performance.
On the 20th of December, the small-batch disco festival The Tropical Roast and queer alternative nightlife brand Diskotekah came together in partnership with the City of Cape Town to host the first Tropical Disko – a queer-friendly 12-hour-long musical festival – at Cape Town High School.
When asked about the significance of hosting a disco festival given disco music’s history as a genre built by people of colour and the queer community, the festival organisers told Sound Guide, “It means everything. The dance floor has always been more than just a place to move – it’s a space of acceptance, connection and freedom. It’s one of the few places where the barriers of everyday life can dissolve, where people can truly see and be seen. Disco has always been at the heart of what we do because it embodies that spirit of liberation – it’s joyful, it’s radical, and it brings people together.”
Check out a gallery of snapshots from the festival by Sara Petersen and Grace De La Hunt.
