The grounds are a testament to a commitment to restore, build and nurture a community; from the LitDistrict’s library space open to under-resourced children in the area, to an impressive and well-loved nursery of edible plants throughout the precinct, job-creation initiatives for youth in the surrounding area and even a feeding scheme. Victoria Yards is part of the Makers Valley precinct, and a core initiative in supporting creativity and community in this part of the city.
The offerings at Victoria Yards run deep, with fashion and design, arts and crafts which can be enjoyed by the public at the First Sundays market, or by booking a discovery or artisan tour to see how products are made. If you’re interested in exploring the Victoria Yards ecosystem, here’s our comprehensive guide to this dynamic precinct – trust us, you’ll be there for hours.
1. First Sunday Markets at Victoria Yards
On the first Sunday of almost every month from 10:00 – 16:00, the army of creatives and makers at Vic Yards and those outside it unite to show off their eclectic wares, with art, fashion, ceramics, workshops, local artisanal food and drink and of course, free entrance and safe parking.
Bring your (leashed) furry friends along and wander through the thriving grounds. Visitors can explore studios, shops, restaurants and the likes alongside a backdrop of live music, food vendors and a lively family-friendly atmosphere. The market is also open to vendors who aren’t Victoria Yards tenants, extending the ethos of community to all of Joburg’s independent makers.
While many of the spaces at Victoria Yards are the studios of artists and makers, and are therefore not consistently public-facing, almost all of them feature their products and share their processes on First Sunday, making it the perfect time to visit.
2. Where to eat and drink at Victoria Yards
Victoria Yards loves makers of all kinds and treats food and drink like a powerful art form able to invoke childhood nostalgia, tell a story about values, and exhibit excellent and enduring craftmanship. For quality, intentional eats and storytelling (through each mouthful), the precinct has a lot to offer.
FAMA DELICATESSEN
Fama Delicatessen is stocked with some of the finest cold cuts we've come across and at prices that won't make your eyes water. The deli was started in 1987 by Roberto Sa Gimenez, a Spanish immigrant who spent years in Italy and Spain learning traditional curing methods before bringing his knowledge to Joburg. The current owners, Nuno and Carla Fernandes, have carried the torch since 2011, championing the slow food movement and making everything from salami and chorizo to Serrano ham in the Spanish style. Its beautifully cured meats, good cheese, and quality produce makes you want to put together an impromptu charcuterie board, as we did. One exception to the reasonable pricing: remember that R10,000 dry-cured prosciutto at Woolworths that had everyone talking over the 2025 festive season? It lives here now, and yes, you can sneak a taste before committing.
HOME OF THE BEAN
Previously in Maboneng, Home of the Bean has settled cosily into its new home (May 2026), and the blueberry lemon muffins are already a crowd-pleaser. Founded by husband-and-wife duo Leroy Kgopa and Itumeleng Manamela, the café is built entirely on a shared love of coffee and quality experiences, from the beans to the seats. The beans are sourced from as far afield as Burundi, Ethiopia, Costa Rica and Guatemala, and the coffee is serious without being snobbish. It's the kind of spot you'll want to linger far longer than you planned.
PRIMAL SPIRITS DISTILLERY
We are great fans of Primal Spirits, a grain-to-glass gin label whose distillery is based at Victoria Yards. Owners Aaron Pieterse and Gabriel Fine, two chemical engineers, had long dreamt of running a distillery together and in January 2025, they finally backed themselves, with Fine returning from London and Pieterse leaving his corporate job to make it happen. What makes Primal special is that they make everything from scratch. Their base spirit comes from non-hybridised organic hard red wheat diluted with ancient bedrock water from the Magaliesberg mountains, with herbs grown right outside their front door and indigenous Rex Union oranges zested and juiced on site. It's a pretty intense process that goes into making that gin you love so much with tonic, and from the ones we tasted, the Union and Applewood Gins are clear standouts. Worth taking the official tour for the cocktails alone.
SOBAE
For a refreshing burst to your tastebuds, visit Sobae for ice-cold sorbet made from ripe in-season fruit bought from informal vendors. It's an important factor for the team at Sobae, whose fight against food waste is a key part of their philosophy.
THE FISH AND CHIPS SHOP
The Fish and Chips Shop serves up freshly battered fish and gloriously soggy, old-school slap chips. It's a family-run joint, as owner Nic de Sousa grew up working in his mother's fish shop and proudly continues that legacy, and it shows in every bite. They champion other small local businesses, stocking condiments like MaZo's Atchar, made by a domestic worker turned entrepreneur.
3. Art, craft and design studios at Victoria Yards
Victoria Yards embodies the idea that creativity flourishes in unlikely places, housing an eclectic mix of more than 35 artists and artisans. Rather than a traditional commercial space, it is an ecosystem built on collaboration, mentoring and skill-sharing, making it one of the city's most authentic and productive creative destinations, and ensuring that something will always surprise you when you visit.
Browse the open studios of prominent local artists like James Delaney (sculptor and champion of The Wilds public park), Dario Manjate and architect and mixed-media artist Mandy Shindler. The space also champions artistic development through initiatives like The Project Space, a non-profit cultural laboratory founded by Joao Ladeira that is dedicated to advancing contemporary African art. Victoria Yards is located alongside the Jukskei River which has inspired an artistic collaboration with Io Makandal and Spaza Art Gallery.
Beyond fine art, Victoria Yards is a gold mine of traditional craftsmanship and sustainable design. The makers' community here is incredibly diverse. You can watch bespoke silkscreen printers at work at Flood House.
PULP Paperworks is one of our favourite stops to get notebooks in Johannesburg, and they always have a range of new artist book publications that push boundaries of what a book can be. Storm Ceramics and Shabalala Designs bring the most gorgeous ceramics, and Shadrack Mgiba is a meticulous artisan furniture maker. Then, Art of the Continent is a maze of crafts from across Africa, while Sonnenglas creates practical (but beautiful) solar lanterns, suitable for camping or loadshedding. In short, there is plenty to see, and it's well worth making time to visit.
While the gardens and complex are open daily, studio hours can vary. It is always best to check ahead if visiting a specific artisan on a weekday, though most open their doors to the public during the First Sunday market days.
4. Shop local fashion at Victoria Yards
Fashion at Victoria Yards is where style slows down, gets hands-on and tells a story worth wearing. From custom denim and sculptural silhouettes to upcycled treasures and handcrafted jewellery, it’s less “off the rack” and more personal forever favourites.
DESE SUSTAINABLE FASHION HUB
Dese Sustainable Fashion Hub is the kind of place you wander into because of the jungle of plants outside and somehow leave an hour later after being entranced by vinyl, sneakers and a pre-loved fashion find you absolutely didn’t plan on buying. Part sneaker-care studio, part sustainable fashion hub, the space mixes clothing upcycling, colourful kicks, local design and quirky trinkets into one seriously cool little corner of Victoria Yards.
MANTSHO
Known for bold prints, sculptural silhouettes and unapologetically confident fashion, designer Palesa Mokubung, founder of Mantsho, has been turning heads since 2004, from Joburg fashion lovers to Hollywood royalty. Mokubung’s designs famously caught the eye of Oscar-winning Black Panther costume designer Ruth E. Carter, eventually leading to Mantsho becoming the first African designer to collaborate with H&M. Her Victoria Yards space is part boutique, part creative universe and if you’re lucky, you may even leave with some styling advice from the queen of colour herself.
NQOBILE NXUMALO
A fashion standout at Victoria Yards is Nqobile Nxumalo’s studio, where endlessly versatile pieces immediately demand a second look. Her customisable Phinifa top is a particular showstopper, available in everything from classic denim to fire-engine red and cool neutral tones. Bold, wearable and full of personality, her designs prove that sometimes the fabric really does do all the talking.
SHWE
Shwe turns South Africa’s beloved shweshwe fabric into colourful, practical accessories like diaries and bags and gifts that are almost impossible to leave behind. Using locally produced Three Cats Shweshwe alongside upcycled materials like recycled billboards, the proudly South African social enterprise creates accessories that are as stylish as they are conscious.
TSHEPO JEANS
Another must-stop is Tshepo Jeans’s studio, where Joburg’s denim king continues to build one of the city’s most well-known fashion labels. Founded by Tshepo Mohlala in 2015 after swapping filmmaking for fashion, the brand has grown from a single pair of “Presidential Slim Fit” jeans into a celebrity-loved denim empire. While you’ll find stores in Sandton City and Hyde Park Corner, the real heartbeat of the label lives at Victoria Yards where you can shop ready-to-wear pairs or go for a custom fit made just for you. Tshepo Jeans is now also open at Mall of Africa.
VY SHOP
There are plenty of studios at Victoria Yards that aren’t open daily, but the VY Shop, next door to Shwe, is open seven days a week and stocks products, merch and pieces from many of the makers and creatives based at the precinct.YOL JEWELLERY
Created by French jewellery maker Helene Thomas, Yol Jewellery is an intimate bijou space filled with beautifully handcrafted pieces that feel both contemporary and timeless. Drawing on ancient techniques passed down by artisan friends and master jewellers, Yol’s jewellery balances handcrafted detail with a grounded, tactile quality.
5. Guided tours at Victoria Yards
At Victoria Yards, as with everything they do, tours come straight from the source: run by their tenants who work and create at the core of the Vic Yards community; guided tours of the space are deeply sincere snapshots of daily life at Victoria Yards. It’s a mix between the personal stories of the artists, designers and entrepreneurs and the historical context of the space they inhabit; from its steam laundry roots from 100 years back, to the dilapidated industrial buildings from a decade ago, to the blooming precinct we admire it for today.
The Discovery Tour is a half-hour (10:00 –10:30) mini exploration focusing on the sprawling grounds and its urban jungle, encouraging its participants to have a pop into the various studios and creative spaces Victoria Yards has to offer, and imparting the history and ethos of the space.
The Artisan Tour is an hour long (10:30 –11:30), delving into the local scene of artisans (as the name would suggest) in their creative spaces, focusing on the process of hand-making with love in South Africa, and presenting an opportunity for participants to see how products are made.
For more information on booking tours, visit their website or contact Patience (078 140 2008) or Sean (066 145 4973) directly.
Victoria Yards operating hours and contact details
Open Mon – Fri from 09:00 – 17:00, Sat from 10:00 –17:00, Sun from 10:00 – 16:0016 Viljoen Street, Lorentzville
Contact Victoria Yards on +27 10 594 5210 or +27 68 603 7180 or email hello@vicyards.co.za
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