At a certain point, a night out can start to feel like it was planned for someone else. Clubs can be too loud and too late. Some restaurants hurry you through dinner. And a festival that once sounded fun may feel less appealing when the next morning starts early. That does not mean adults over 35 have lost interest in music, culture or going out. It may mean the available spaces have not kept up with what they want from an evening.
On Saturday, 26 September, Exhibition Through Music and Hayani Africa offered one answer with Listening Between The Lines, an intimate afternoon event at a private residence in Parktown North, Johannesburg. Presented with sound by Bang & Olufsen, it brought together guests aged 30 and over for six hours of music, food and conversation.
The event ran from 2pm to 8pm, with guests asked to arrive by e-hailing so they could enjoy the wine without driving. That early finish was part of the thinking. The format made room for a full afternoon out without requiring guests to give up the entire night, or the following morning.
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Guests shared food and wine, including bottles brought from their own cellars. Music played through a sound system chosen to bring out its detail, while the setting allowed people to talk without shouting over it. The experience placed listening and conversation on equal footing.
That combination is more than a question of taste. Cultural experiences can give people a reason to gather around something they enjoy and make it easier to connect with others who share that interest. A 2024 systematic review in Frontiers in Public Health, which examined 11 studies involving adults over 40, found positive associations between cultural engagement and outcomes including mental health, resilience, wellbeing and social relationships. The authors noted that the research varied in its methods and that regular, sustained participation showed the clearest positive effects.
One afternoon cannot establish what cultural events will do for someone’s health. But it can show what a more thoughtful social experience looks like: time to focus on the music, a setting that supports conversation and an end time that respects people’s lives outside the event.
There is a sizeable audience for that kind of experience. Many adults have the interest, knowledge and means to support cultural events, yet can struggle to find spaces that feel designed with them in mind. Nightlife often treats youth as its default audience, even though people’s tastes and social lives do not simply disappear with age. The answer is not to make every event quieter or earlier. It is to offer more variety. Some people want a dance floor; others want to hear the full texture of a record, share a meal and catch up with friends. A city with a rich cultural life should have room for both.
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The thought behind Listening Between The Lines was visible in the details: the afternoon schedule, the e-hailing plan, the sound system and the space for conversation. Together, they treated guests’ time and attention as part of the experience. Johannesburg needs more cultural spaces that make that kind of night possible.
By Nchaupé Motshwane and Images by Jaybe Thorne and Hloni Khoza
