Fiction

One of the biggest draws at Fiction, a cool Cape Town DJ bar and alt-music club housed in a historic building, is the large wrap-around balcony, the perfect place to escape from the cacophony of Long Street. Music is a big deal here, with different sounds on different nights: there’s indie, rock, pop, and electro, on Tuesdays; Wednesdays are often feature live electronic acts, Thursday are all about drum ‘n’ bass; and Killer Robot on Fridays is a night of dance-floor-friendly electro. The whole venue has recently been overhauled and there are now two bars areas from which to get your liquid fix, the main one downstairs sporting a distinctive wooden backdrop, while the upstairs ‘daytime’ bar boasts an astroturf carpet; both are well-stocked and craft beer and cocktails are on the menu. The dance-floor is much bigger than it was and where once there were unisex toilets this is no longer the case. It’s a popular spot is Fiction, providing a welcome alternative from the chaos of Long Street; the bar stays open into the small hours and can get pretty rammed on weekends.