It’s happening again. Melville is getting a makeover as prep for the biggest celebration of the neighbourhood kicks off!
Johannesburg (15 October 2025) – Change is afoot in one of Jozi’s popular and most artsy suburbs! Melville is getting a makeover ahead of a ‘big event’ coming up early in 2026…
The Melville Residents Association and Melville Business Association have teamed up with Vuka Spark Empowerment NPC and Creass Community Services to refresh and beautify the neighbourhood.
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Work has just kicked off, and it includes repainting sidewalks and curbs, refreshing road markings and revamping planters with new plants. Last year, there were similar community efforts to bolster and boost the love for Melville. Street pillars and dustbins became canvases, and new pieces of public artwork cropped up everywhere.
The new makeover should be complete by the end of January next year, just in time for another round of the community’s biggest celebration!
The Happening will make its comeback in March 2026. The event is inspired by Allan Kaprow’s 18 Happenings in 6 Parts, which took place in New York in 1959.
“Happenings were spontaneous, often improvisational, performances that took place in a variety of settings, from galleries and museums to public spaces like parks and streets. They were characterised by their unpredictability and audience participation, often blurring the line between performer and spectator,” the organisers share.
It follows AfricaBurn’s culture, which celebrates creativity and community through a kinder currency that focuses on sharing. As it did in 2024, the event will bring that sense of Ubuntu that Burners cultivate.
“This means the removal of financial and bartering transactions and replacing them with acts of kindness or gifting, which does not contemplate the receival of something in return for a gift. This is a powerful way that informs how we live our daily lives.”
Organisers won’t accept sponsorships for The Happening, and people are encouraged to gift their time, their craft or any other gift they feel would contribute to the community get together. Yes, very cool things happen in our city!
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