The Groove Room is leaving the festival stage behind and stepping into its own spotlight.
This December, the electronic music platform will make a significant move in its evolution with its first standalone Cape Town edition, taking over Cabo Beach on 26 December.
Leading the powerhouse line-up are Kelvin Momo, DJ Kent, DBN Gogo, MÖRDA B2B DJ Zinhle and DJ Lag, joined by Thakzin, JNR SA, International Pantsula and NOT A SHE.
The result is a line-up that crosses generations, genres and different corners of South Africa’s electronic music landscape.
From ULTRA Stage To Standalone Experience
The Groove Room began as a dedicated stage within ULTRA South Africa.
Since then, it has steadily developed an identity, sound and community of its own.
What started as a space for African electronic music within one of the world’s biggest electronic music festivals has grown beyond the DJ booth.
The music created a gathering point.
Then came the dancers, fashion, movement, chants and shared rituals of the dancefloor.
Together, these elements helped shape a culture that became as distinctive as the sound.
The room became the experience.
Now, for the first time in Cape Town, that experience will have an entire event dedicated to it.
A Sound That Moves Across South Africa
The Groove Room Cape Town brings together artists representing different generations and sounds.
Kelvin Momo brings the soulful, immersive edges of Amapiano, while DJ Kent carries the lineage of South African house.
DBN Gogo represents a generation that has helped push contemporary Amapiano forward.
Meanwhile, DJ Lag brings the unmistakable pulse of Gqom.
The musical journey does not stop there.
The line-up also features Thakzin, JNR SA, International Pantsula and NOT A SHE, creating a programme that moves across Amapiano, Gqom, house and Afro House, alongside new directions emerging from South Africa’s club culture.
MÖRDA B2B DJ Zinhle
One of the standout moments of the day will come when MÖRDA and DJ Zinhle go back-to-back.
The set brings two major forces in South African dance music together behind the decks, adding another distinctive moment to the Cape Town edition.
For The Groove Room, however, the line-up is about more than putting established names on one bill.
It reflects where African electronic music is now while creating space for where it is going next.
Cabo Beach Becomes The Groove Room
Taking The Groove Room out of its original festival setting creates a new opportunity.
The standalone Cape Town edition will introduce an ambitious technical production designed specifically for the experience.
Sound, stage design and production elements will come together to transform Cabo Beach into an environment built around the music and the people within it.
That shift marks an important new chapter for The Groove Room.
What was once a dedicated room within a much larger festival will now have the freedom to define its own scale, atmosphere and experience.
Where Music Becomes Culture
At the heart of The Groove Room is an idea that reaches beyond the decks.
African electronic music does not exist only in the sound coming from the speakers. It also lives in the movement, style, energy and shared rituals that develop around it.
The Groove Room has grown with that culture.
On 26 December, Cape Town will experience the platform in its first standalone edition, bringing together artists and audiences around a sound that continues to evolve.
The Groove Room is stepping out on its own.
And this time, the room is the entire experience.
