Durban is gearing up for one of South Africa’s biggest social and sporting spectacles, with more than 40,000 visitors expected to descend on the city for Saturday’s Hollywoodbets Durban July.
The iconic horse racing event is set to inject over R200 million into eThekwini’s economy, while showcasing world-class racing, high fashion and entertainment.
City authorities say security has been intensified to ensure the safety of visitors.
This year’s fashion theme, ‘Country Allure’, celebrates South African creativity.
Final preparations are under way ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
Widely regarded as Africa’s premier horse racing and lifestyle event, the Durban July promises a spectacular blend of sport, fashion and entertainment.
The event also provides a valuable platform for both established and emerging fashion designers to showcase their creativity before a national audience.
One of the designers, Karla Lortan, who is taking part, says this year’s theme challenged them to push creative boundaries while celebrating South African excellence.
“I decided to give a nod to my heritage. I hand-painted the design of my dress and used the inspiration behind bushman paintings. Along with that, I decided to go with something that was indigenous to South Africa alone, and that’s the ostrich feathers, which is part of my accessories and hanging off my dress. that’s from Cape Karoo International. I also did Ndebele inspired border, and that was around my favorite thing about South Africa and that is the sunrise and sunset and also the colour.”
Race Coast’s head of major events, broadcast and marketing, Steve Marshall, says all operational plans are in place to ensure a safe and successful event.
“We’re looking forward to a great day. We are expecting 40 to 45,000 people. Occupancy in the hotels are up. which is great, people traveling down from Johannesburg. We’ve got the horse racing, that’s the star of the show. R10 million for the main race this year. It’s been raised and doubled up from R5 million last year, but then the fashion and the entertainment and the hospitality … this is the biggest VIP hospitality event in South Africa.”
Durban Tourism Deputy Head, Winile Mntungwa says the Durban July is expected to generate more than R200-million for the city’s economy through tourism, hospitality and related industries.
“There’s temporary jobs that have actually been created because of the different set up of these events and spend in relation to people coming into the city going and doing their shopping going to prepare for the events make-up artists preparing for that but also the experiences different experienced are getting more demand as visitors are coming in. So, in terms of the numbers that ate concerned we have projected a R260 million direct spend just from this period of the Durban July.”
The race will also make history with two female jockeys competing in this year’s event.
