Birdsong against borders as Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! takes to the streets 

by | Aug 13, 2026

Through drums, song and dance, Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! filled the inner city with a celebration of art and belonging. During a time marked by xenophobic tension, it was a reminder that community and creativity are powerful forms of resistance.  

  • The theme ARISE centred on birds, with the grey go-away-bird reframed as a call of hope.  
  • More than 350 children and young people collaborated with artists at the Windybrow Arts Centre, designing costumes and choreography.  
  • Coming only weeks after marches demanding the removal of foreign nationals, the parade’s imagery offered a counter-narrative of unity and shared streets.  

On August 8, Hillbrow’s streets became a stage for music, dance and joy, as the Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! parade transformed the inner city. In a neighbourhood too often reduced to headlines of crime and decay, it tells a different story – one of collaboration and creativity, and one that celebrates freedom and belonging.  

People took to the streets of Hillbrow in bird costumes. Photo: Hannah Brown

The event is organised by Windybrow Arts Centre alongside Shade, and since its launch in 2017, the festival has been reimagining public space. It is about “giving young people, across binaries, age and places of origin the space to play, to express and to have agency over their voices, their version of the inner city and how this place can be perceived,” states Tamzyn Botha, curator of the parade and director of Shade. 

The parade carried a particular weight as South Africa continues to grapple with xenophobic violence. Only a few weeks earlier, Hillbrow had been shaken by the June 30 marches demanding the removal of foreign nationals.  

Protests took place across South Africa. Photo: Hannah Brown
Protests by the group ‘March and March’ took place on June 30, marking the unofficial ‘deadline’
set for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa. Photos: Hannah Brown

Birds were at the centre of this year’s theme, ARISE. The festival’s mascot was the grey go-away-bird, or lourie, known for its sharp warning call. This was reframed as a call of hope, a reminder that communities can raise their voices in unity against hatred. Within this context, it felt like the festival answered back with colour, laughter and carried an important message: Hillbrow belongs to everyone.  

The parade began at the Windybrow Arts Centre, which is a prominent hub of creativity in Johannesburg, before making its way through the streets. Hillbrow came alive with drums, costumes and singing. More than 350 children and young people ‘took flight’ across borders, their feathers fluttering as they danced, signifying freedom of movement and connection across divides.  

Artistic expression was central to the parade’s formation. Children and teenagers spent two weeks learning new creative skills and collaborating with artists at the Windybrow Arts Centre to design costumes, choreography and music. As Botha said, “the ripples of this work, of the parade and the relationships made during this process, far outweigh the ‘end result’.” It brings young people together in a city where they are often excluded from decision-making. The creative process shows how, through art and performance, Hillbrow’s story can be shaped by its own residents and connectedness.  

Hundreds of young people took to the streets for the seventh annual Hey Hillbrow! Let’s Dlala! parade. Photo: Hannah Brown
Hillbrow’s streets came alive with music and dancing.
Photo: Hannah Brown
Young people dancing to the music during the parade.
Photo: Hannah Brown
Singers performing at the festival.
Photo: Hannah Brown

The annual parade takes place on the eve of Women’s Day, marking 70 years since the historic 1956 Women’s March, when thousands of women stood against apartheid pass laws. This year’s theme felt especially poignant, as debates about who belongs in South Africa’s cities remain tense.  

The contradictions felt impossible to ignore. Only weeks earlier, the same streets had been filled with chants of division.  

Just as those women fought against restrictions on movement, the imagery of birds gliding through Hillbrow challenged today’s ‘cages’ of xenophobia. The festival did not erase the xenophobic tensions, but filling Hillbrow’s streets with birdsong, dance and laughter for an afternoon reminded Johannesburg that art can be resistance and hope.  

In the years ahead, the organisers hope the parade will continue to offer “a shared sense of possibility through wonder, inside what feels like chaos”, says Botha. They envision it becoming more youth-led, “and this type of framing gives the parade over to those it represents.”  

FEATURED IMAGE: People took to the streets of Hillbrow in bird costumes. Photo: Hannah Brown

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