{"id":870704,"date":"2026-08-18T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=870704"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:58:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:58:19","slug":"the-small-town-in-south-africa-that-has-one-art-gallery-for-every-330-people-who-live-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/870704\/the-small-town-in-south-africa-that-has-one-art-gallery-for-every-330-people-who-live-there\/","title":{"rendered":"The small town in South Africa that has one art gallery for every 330 people who live there"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Clarens is a small town nestled at the foot of the Maluti mountain range, with approximately three art galleries for every 1,000 residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town is part of the Free State and is within driving distance of Bloemfontein and Gauteng, making it a popular local holiday spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has a lot of appeal for families staying in inland parts of South Africa, as it is closer than coastal holiday spots such as Durban and Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town is named after a village in Switzerland, where Paul Kruger lived after being exiled from South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kruger played a major role in the area’s history, and the town was named in recognition of his role in the founding of the Free State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town is known for its wide offerings for tourists, with a standout being its strong artistic community and galleries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarens has approximately 20 permanent art galleries<\/strong>, with exhibitions constantly rotating among well-known South African artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town has the highest concentration of art galleries in the country, earning it the unofficial title of South Africa’s art capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the town each year, official census data records only 751 people living in the town proper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When combined with the adjoining township of Kgubetswana, this pushes the urban population of the region to about 6,500 people\u2014or one art gallery per 330 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town’s reputation for art eventually led to the founding of the Clarens Art Festival, an annual event that draws thousands of attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, the festival featured approximately 5,000 people and offered exhibitions of paintings, sculptures, and numerous other media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Clarens art scene does not only involve current artists \u2013 the town sits close to several San rock art locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These sites are closely protected and are accessible through hikes and guided tours in the nearby Golden Gate Highlands National Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarens not only features an art festival but also hosts several events, including a craft beer festival, a cherry festival at the start of the harvest, and a new festival of lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high altitude and moderate climate in the town and its surrounds make it an ideal spot for farming niche crops such as cherries and fruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture plays an important role in the area’s tourism, fuelling the speciality restaurants and craft food and drinks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great outdoors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Along with its art scene and festivals, Clarens is well known for its outdoor activities and its appeal to hikers and climbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town is close to the Maluti mountain range, which acts as the border between South Africa and Lesotho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mountains near Clarens are a good spot for climbers, with the area’s unique natural sandstone cliff faces providing interesting challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area’s sandstone is a noticeable feature of the mountains and was used to build many of the historic buildings in Clarens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close proximity to the Golden Gate National Park also contributes to the town’s appeal, with easy access to hiking and camping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking routes in the area range in distance and difficulty, offering both shorter day hikes and multi-day challenges for those with enough experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other things to do in the area include hot air balloon rides, white water rafting, and mountain biking, catering to a variety of outdoor activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarens is also known for its proximity to Afriski, one of the few ski resorts in Southern Africa, which is open in winter, depending on snowfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to its high altitude, Clarens is one of the coldest areas in South Africa and regularly experiences snowfall in winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summer, the high altitude helps Clarens avoid the high temperatures often seen in other parts of inland South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the town relies heavily on tourism for its local economy, with its other large sectors, such as agriculture, also feeding into this industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area’s tourism is boosted not only by the events and activities in the town but also by the impressive natural beauty surrounding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of Clarens<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Clarens is a small town in the Free State, unofficially known as the art capital of South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":870740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2089714194971017512","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2179832562837143","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18004601918778867","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26202,26203,22935],"class_list":["post-870704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-clarens","tag-clarens-art-festival","tag-golden-gate-highlands-national-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870704"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":870796,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870704\/revisions\/870796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}