On 4 October 2025, The Matric Ball returns to @Sandton Hotel, offering something quite different from the traditional high school send-off.

• Now in its latest edition, the event has grown into a unique and ambitious take on what it means to celebrate the end of school.
• Conceptualised by 18-year-old Santiago Andrew, The Matric Ball was created as a space for young people to express themselves and acknowledge their achievements.
• It’s not a ‘Matric Dance’ in the typical sense – it’s something much more layered, more considered, and certainly more audacious.
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This isn’t an event open to anyone who can afford a ticket or who happens to attend the right school. Instead, attendance is based on merit. Grade 12 learners from across South Africa are invited to apply to be part of The Matric Ball, but only those who can show distinction in areas like entrepreneurship, academics, sport, the arts, fashion, or community leadership will be invited. According to organisers, it’s a selective process, one that asks teenagers to submit portfolios and reflect on the work they’re already doing – a process that says quite clearly: show us who you are, not just what grade you’re in.

Once accepted, those selected join an event that aims to feel more like a celebration of identity and intent than just a formal dance. Yes, there are the gowns, the red carpet moments, and the fanfare. But at its core, The Matric Ball is a space where self-expression is the real dress code. Attendees arrive not just to party, but to make a statement – to show up, be seen, and be part of something designed with their generation in mind. Two participants are chosen as Matric Ball Icons – not for fitting a mould, but for how they present themselves, the way they arrive, and the overall energy they bring to the night.

Held in the centre of one of the country’s most affluent areas, the event doesn’t shy away from spectacle. The setting, the styling, the attention to detail – it all adds up to a polished experience, but one with substance. For many, this is their first taste of an event that takes them seriously, treats them like young adults, and gives them the space to define what celebration looks like on their terms.

Still, The Matric Ball isn’t all glitter and glamour. One of its key features this year is a stronger focus on inclusivity. Through a partnership with the non-profit Blessing Lives, three underprivileged Grade 12 learners will be fully sponsored to attend the event, with everything from their transport to their outfits taken care of. It’s a gesture that goes beyond tokenism. It’s an acknowledgement that talent and potential exist everywhere, not just in spaces that can afford to showcase them. And it’s a reminder that celebration shouldn’t be reserved for the privileged few.

There’s also a quiet message running through the event: that recognition shouldn’t be confined to sports trophies or academic prizes. That there are many forms of excellence – some seen, some not – that deserve their moment. The Matric Ball makes space for the creatives, the introverts, the activists, and the inventors. It offers a platform not for popularity, but for purpose. And while the Instagram moments and statement outfits will no doubt capture attention, the substance behind them is what gives the night weight.

It would be easy to dismiss the event as an exercise in high school vanity or influencer theatrics, but that misses the point. This isn’t about showing off for the sake of it. It’s about showing up for who you are, and doing it with a sense of pride that young people are often discouraged from expressing.

The event is deliberately different from the adult-curated idea of what a matric dance should be. It’s less about nostalgic tradition and more about forward motion – marking the end of school not with a sigh of relief, but with the kind of energy that says, “Watch what I do next.”

For those who attend, it may well be one of the defining nights of their teenage years – not because of who else is there, but because of how they are seen. And for those watching from the outside, The Matric Ball is a signal that youth culture in South Africa is evolving. That there’s a generation ready to be heard, ready to lead, and ready to take up space – even if that space happens to be in sequins and velvet under the lights of Sandton.

So while it might look like a red carpet affair, what’s unfolding beneath the surface is more interesting: a glimpse at how young people want to be celebrated, how they see themselves, and how they’re shaping a future that doesn’t ask permission.

For further information, visit The Matric Ball website.

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