Last week I was invited to a Media Preview of the 2020 Cape Town Carnival, at its Warehouse in Maitland, and introduced to the Carnival theme, float preparations, staff, and costumes. I was struck by the bold colours of this year’s Carnival, and the enthusiasm of the staff who we were introduced to. The theme for this year is ‘Incredible Journey: Sounds of South Africa’, and will be held on Human Rights Day, 21 March. 

I was excited about the prospect of traveling to the Carnival Warehouse with the Hop On Hop Off bus with the other media guests. I had been told that we could park at the Aquarium, and I double-checked this with the PR Company the day before.  But there was no such facility, and I had to search for parking in the parking garage across the road, the Waterfront staff in the area not being aware of the Carnival media outing, nor were any representatives of the PR company on hand to assist us when two of us stood shocked when we heard that the bus had departed without us. By sheer luck Mandi Jarman of Cape Town Sightseeing, the company owning the buses, who was leaving the area, saw us, and offered us a lift to the Carnival Warehouse. 

We were welcomed with coffee and popcorn, and I wandered through the warehouse to photograph the colourful beginnings of floats. Craig Dummett of Transform came to greet me, and handed me a media release, which made it easier to understand what we were seeing, as the venue was very large, we were a large number of guests, and it was not easy to understand all the staff speaking.  

A total of 2000 dancers representing various community groups of our city will be colourfully dressed, and walking and dancing in or alongside colourfully decorated floats, with giant puppets, of which we saw one, for me the star of the show. It will travel along the Green Point Fan Mile, and 50000 spectators are expected. The Carnival will express the diversity of our nation’s cultures through music, dance, song, and art, combined with exuberance, colour, sound, and creativity, according to Brad Baard, Creative Director of the Cape Town Carnival, 

We were shown around various departments of the Carnival, including the following:

+   A giant Eland sculpture made of metal for the ‘Footsteps of the First Artists’, made from a wire frame, and represents the ‘artistic expressions of the early Southern African people’. 

+  The ‘Cultural Roots’ float will represent the different traditions of our country’s culture, with performances by costumed dancers, Mali drummers, singers, and other performers. 

+   A giant size ‘Drum’ magazine cover is part of the ‘Drum Era’ float, which will pay tribute to the music originating from Sophiatown beer halls in Johannesburg in the Fifties. The float will pay tribute to the blend of African music with that of American musicians visiting at that time. 

+  The ‘AfroFuture’ float will look at the future, presenting a vision of the ‘city of tomorrow’. The City of Cape Town is sponsoring this float, presented as an ‘African-inspired architectural city breaking through the clouds’, and is the ‘pinnacle of the parade’, according to the media statement. The float hopes to reflect that with ‘our incredible diversity, massive talent and potential, South Africa has everything we need to build an amazing future together’. 

Having seen the background work so far, the colourful elements of the floats, and the striking costumes, I cannot wait to see the Cape Town Carnival come alive on 21 March, in showcasing and celebrating the diversity of our city and country, 

 

Cape Town Carnival. www.capetowncarnival.com Facebook: The Cape Town Carnival Twitter: @CTCarnival Instagram: @capetowncarnival

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide