Start at the Amphitheatre Under the Granite
On the evening of Saturday, December 19, 2026, the open-air amphitheatre at the Voortrekker Monument fills for Candlelight: Christmas Classics, a candlelight concert in the Fever Originals series. A string quartet — players to be announced — works through a programme built for the season: the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, Greensleeves, Carol of the Bells, O Holy Night, O Tannenbaum, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, then a looser second half with Feliz Navidad, Jingle Bells, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Last Christmas, and All I Want for Christmas Is You. The setting does half the work: the amphitheatre was inaugurated in 1949 alongside the Voortrekker Monument, the granite structure commemorating the Pioneer history of Southern Africa, and it sits inside a nature reserve, so the light around you is candlelight and veld dark rather than city glow.
- When: Saturday, December 19, 2026, 20:00.
- Where: Voortrekker Monument Amphitheater, Groenkloof 358-Jr, Pretoria, 0027. Tel +27 12 326 6770.
- Tickets: from R615, sold through Feverup; prices and availability can change.
- Know before you go: the performance runs about 60 minutes; doors open shortly before the start and there is no entry once the music begins. Age 8 and up, with under-16s accompanied by an adult. The venue is wheelchair accessible, and seating is assigned first-come, first-served within each zone.
Build the Rest of the Day Around the City's Christmas Rhythm
Christmas Day itself in Pretoria is a public holiday, and the city's reliable pattern is a quiet morning and a sociable afternoon: church services, family lunches, and braais that run long into the warm evening. Plan your own day in that shape. Book a Christmas lunch table well ahead if you want one, or take the South African route and assemble a braai — the December heat and long daylight make an outdoor meal the natural centre of the day.
For the seasonal shopping and market atmosphere that surrounds Christmas rather than the day itself, the weeks leading up to December 25 are when the city is at its busiest. This is the period to browse for gifts, seasonal food and handmade goods, and to soak up the crowds and the lights before everything closes down for the holiday.
- Christmas Eve and the run-up: the busiest stretch for markets, shopping and evening events — treat the days before the 25th as your window for browsing and eating out.
- Christmas Day: expect a public holiday rhythm — services in the morning, long family lunches and braais in the afternoon and evening.
- Boxing Day and after: the holiday continues, and the city stays in a relaxed, family-oriented mode.
What Lands on the Table
Christmas eating in Pretoria follows the South African summer table rather than a northern winter one. Think cold and room-temperature food that suits the heat, served outdoors where possible: a braai with meats off the coals, salads, and a spread that stretches across the afternoon. Traditional Christmas fare — roast and baked dishes, mince pies, Christmas pudding and the like — appears alongside it, often as the centrepiece of a sit-down family lunch. If you are eating out, book early; if you are cooking, shop in the days before the holiday, when the markets and shops are still trading at full tilt.
- Braai: the default Christmas meal for many households — meat over coals, eaten outside.
- Cold and summer dishes: salads and room-temperature plates to match the December heat.
- Traditional Christmas fare: roast and baked dishes, mince pies and Christmas pudding at sit-down lunches.
- Timing: do your food shopping in the days before the 25th, when markets and shops are still open.
Make a Day of the Monument and Its Reserve
The Voortrekker Monument is more than a concert venue. It stands within a nature reserve, and the amphitheatre — capacity 20,000, inaugurated in 1949 — is part of the same complex. Give yourself time around the December 19 concert to walk the reserve and see the granite monument itself, which commemorates the Pioneer history of Southern Africa. It is one of the city's defining landmarks, and pairing it with the candlelight concert makes for a full, unhurried Pretoria evening.
- See: the Voortrekker Monument, the granite structure at the heart of the site.
- Walk: the surrounding nature reserve.
- Pair it: arrive early on December 19 for the reserve and monument, then stay for the 20:00 concert.
Plan the Trip Around the Nineteenth
If Christmas in Pretoria is on your mind for 2026, anchor your plans to Saturday, December 19 and the Candlelight: Christmas Classics concert at the Voortrekker Monument Amphitheater — tickets from R615 through Feverup, doors opening shortly before the 20:00 start, no entry once the performance begins. Book that first, then build the rest of your stay around it: the pre-Christmas markets and shopping in the days before the holiday, a Christmas Day shaped by services, long lunches and braais, and time at the monument and its reserve. Sort your tickets and your table early, and the rest of the season in Pretoria will arrange itself around you.