The launch of The Cape Town Street Parade was announced today in Cape Town in partnership with the City of Cape Town, promising a world class event on 2 January 2018 for the people of Cape Town and for visitors to the Mother City. Previously known as the Tweede Nuwe Jaar Minstrel Parade, The Cape Town Street Parade seeks to be an inclusive carnival for all the people who participate in it and who support it – its stakeholders, communities and all cultures and religions.
It will build on the long tradition and legacy of the Voorsmaakie and Tweede Nuwe Jaar, with the key aim of unifying the people of the Western Cape, and involving the most vulnerable on the Cape Flats through opportunities for youth and cultural development and employment creation.
Over the last two years, the Kaapse Klopse Karnival, together with the extended team of experts and friends of the carnival, have been painstakingly analyzing the carnival with a view to building on the positive aspects which the Voorsmaakie and the Tweede Nuwe Jaar represent in the lives of the people of the Western Cape.
The new format seeks to monetize the carnival in such a way that it becomes sustainable, attracts new partners, includes other forms of carnival entertainment, and ultimately, draws people from diverse backgrounds to participate in existing troupes or to create their own troupes.
“I believe that the minstrel event can be hugely successful, and of the quality and scale of the Rio Carnival, drawing meaningful corporate sponsorships and becoming a sustainable event independent of City funding. This requires us to retain the important elements of the tradition while adding a professional organizational structure, building The Cape Town Street Parade as an iconic event on the international calendar, while creating employment opportunities and legacy benefits for the minstrels and their communities,” said Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security at the launch on Tuesday.
“It is time for Cape Town and the Klopse of this city to start latching on to the momentum being created by the Cape Town Street Parade. The time for the change is now and everyone has to start committing in order to finally turn this event into the Jewel Event that we want it to be. This event is being returned to the people,” said Muneeb Gambeno, Director of the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association.
Organisers believe the 2018 Cape Town Street Parade will consolidate relationships with the City, the Province and other existing stakeholders and ensure that all participants and stakeholders benefit directly from the growth of the carnival going forward.
