Fak’ugesi African Digital & Innovation Festival has unveiled the full programme for its 13th edition, running 13 to 17 October 2026 at Wits Braamfontein under the theme African Imaginaries. Festival Director Alby Michaels revealed five days of talks, exhibitions, films, immersive experiences, performances, game jams, XR installations and hackathons at an event at Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct on Friday 2 October, which was live-streamed.
The programme is organised through three curatorial frequencies: Memory Engines, on how knowledge, history and cultural memory are preserved and transmitted; Imagination Engines, on the creative practices through which alternatives are made possible; and Future Engines, on the systems, cities, technology and infrastructures through which possible futures are tested. Venues include Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, Origins Centre, Chris Seabrooke Music Hall, the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome and The Bioscope Independent Cinema.
“More than a theme, it is a declaration that imagination has always been one of Africa’s greatest engines of innovation,” said Alby Michaels, Festival Director, Fak’ugesi African Digital & Innovation Festival, of African Imaginaries.
Tuesday 13 October. Registration opens at Tshimologong at 08:00. The official opening, a living transmission through activated spaces, immersive moments and performances, takes place at Origins Centre from 18:30 to 22:00, by invitation only.
Wednesday 14 October, Memory Engines. At Origins Centre, Dr Tammy Hodgskiss (09:15) examines the institution itself as a case study in memory, Molemo Moiloa of Open Restitution Africa gives the keynote We Are the Future’s Ancestors (10:20), Canda Kincses presents Futures_Past | Archives, Storytelling and Community Collaboration (11:30), and Lauren Fletcher launches Futures_Past | Mapping Immersive Arts (14:15). COSMOCENO 2026, an international networked visual music festival, fills the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome from 17:30, and The Bioscope screens Fête du cinéma d’animation 2026 at 20:00.
Thursday 15 October, Imagination Engines. At Chris Seabrooke Music Hall, Prof. Sennay Ghebreab opens at 10:00, followed by Prof. Benjamin Rosman’s keynote The Intelligence Century and Why Africa Must Help Invent It (10:20), the panel The Art in Artificial Intelligence (11:30) and Dr Tsosheletso Chidi on The Languages We Imagine into the Future (14:30). Hans-Martin Buff’s Flow, an immersive audio masterclass, runs in the Digital Dome from 14:45, and the Best of Cape Town International Animation Festival screens at The Bioscope at 20:00.
Friday 16 October, Future Engines. ByLwansta presents Imagination as Infrastructure (10:00) and Monika Bielskyte gives the keynote Disobedient Edges: Storyworld Design for Embodied Futures (10:20), both at Chris Seabrooke Music Hall. The Pitchathon Marathon and Johannesburg Innovation Exchange run at Tshimologong, including the AI & Music Business Hackathon pitches at the Accelerator (11:30 to 13:30). Eiko Tanaka presents Characteristics of Japanese Animation Production (14:00). At 14:45, Umfula: Echoes of the River takes audiences into the fulldome on a journey down the Umfolozi River, and Red Balloon Festival South Africa launches at Origins Centre.
Saturday 17 October. Women Game Jam South Africa and Game Jam Plus South Africa run from 08:00 at the Tshimologong Gaming Hub, and Women in Animation takes place at The Bioscope at 11:30. The Fak’ugesi Awards, hosted by Msizi James, begin at 18:30 in the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome. The ceremony is by invitation only and will be streamed live.
Open throughout the festival. Beads as Bytes by Tanushka Ramdin, Quantum Echoes of Humanity and Echoes of the Machine by Dr Renzo Filinich Orozco, and Evans Akanyijuka’s Postcards from Latent Space: AI & African Photography at Tshimologong.
Tickets. Registration is through Webtickets. Day Pass: R135 students, R340 general public. Full Pass: R540 students, R750 general public. Industry Pass: R1,950. Group discounts: hello@fakugesi.co.za. The full programme and practical information are at fakugesi.co.za.
About Fak’ugesi African Digital & Innovation Festival
Founded in 2014 as a collaboration between Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and the Wits School of Arts, Digital Arts Department, Fak’ugesi brings together African digital innovation, creative practice and cultural production. The 2026 edition, its 13th, runs from 13 to 17 October across Wits Braamfontein in Johannesburg. DM