British Grammy winner Olivia Dean has been announced as the headlining act for the third edition of Milk + Cookies Festival South Africa, joining a line-up featuring Elaine, Zee Nxumalo, Chelsea Sloan and Jade T.
Also see: Milk + Cookies returns to 2 South African cities for 3rd year
The star, known for hits like Man I Need and So Easy (To Fall in Love), will perform at Sandringham Farm in Cape Town on 29 January 2027 and at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on 31 January 2027.
South Africans clocked Milk + Cookies-Olivia Dean collab
South Africans had an inkling that the award winner was set to perform in South Africa after Olivia’s Instagram page had the same shade of pink that the festival featured in its promo shots.
TikTok user Danté Poole shared a clip on social media showing the similarities, while humorously pointing out how it would be difficult for South Africans to attend the many music events featuring major artists to come.
@dantecarlopoole In this economy….. My mother and my fathers wedding ring! #Fyp #MilkandCookies #OliviaDean #Cpt ♬ original sound – Danté Poole
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Milk + Cookies welcomes Olivia Dean
Olivia headlines a festival that effortlessly defies genre boundaries. Kaytranada opened the first South African edition in 2025 in front of 20,000 people, and Gunna followed in 2026.
A producer, a rapper and a soul singer in three years is the pattern rather than the exception, and the crowd has followed it: a global, genre-agnostic audience that turns up for the experience as much as the names on the poster. And now three years in, Milk + Cookies has become a fixture of the South African summer.
“People keep asking how Kaytranada, Gunna and Olivia Dean end up on the same bill,” said Chase Freeman, Head of Marketing at Milk + Cookies.
“Never the same sound, always the same feeling. That’s the only brief we’ve ever had. We book for the people in the room, not for a genre, and they come for what the room feels like as much as the name on the poster. Three years in, that’s what South Africa has given us. We came here to put on a show and ended up building something with the people who live here, and it’s changed how we do this everywhere else.”
Tickets on sale
- Pre-registration: Open now at tickets.milkandcookiesfestival.com/registration
- Pre-sale: Wednesday, 28 October at 10:0
- General on sale: Friday, 30 October via Howler
Featured image: Instagram/@oliviadeano
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