Executive Mayor Helen Zille has announced an exciting new venture on the tourism calendar for Cape Town. From 2010, Cape Town will have an annual all inclusive Carnival that will aim at bringing together the diverse communities of the city through music, dance, creative and cultural expression, culminating in a weekend of inclusive fun for Capetonians and visitors alike.

“Upon visiting Rio, we identified that Cape Town has no shortage of cultural offerings combining music, dance and other kinds of creativity, however, these all seem to be catering for particular niches. One thus never sees the rich tapestry of music genres, cultural representations and dance styles together, as an expression of the heart of Cape Town, rich in its diversity,” says Professor Rachel Jafta, founding member and chairperson of the Cape Town Carnival Trustees.

“We wanted to create something new, where communities interact and celebrate our uniqueness, but also unite as citizens of one of the most beautiful cities of the world,” says Rachel.
She goes further by identifying the three main objectives of the Carnival as being “the enhancement of social cohesion and cultural expression, the building of community self-esteem and development and the creation of positive spin-offs for the local economy and especially tourism.”

The inaugural Cape Town Carnival will be held from 12–14 March 2010, in between the Argus Cycle Tour and the Two Oceans Marathon, therefore adding to the tourism calendar.  The theme for the 2010 Carnival is “Rhythm, Roots & Boots”, giving the participants a chance to put on their dancing shoes, fire up their rhythms and tell wonderful visual stories of diverse and common roots that span lifetimes.

The Friday night of the Carnival will be known for Carnival balls and dancing, whether it is in a community hall, at a participating hotel or club or a beach or street party. The Trust would love everyone to accredit their event to be formally included in the Carnival programme.

On the Saturday, eight groups consisting of between 1,500 and 3,000 artists (dancers, musicians, singers etc.) will parade through the streets with magnificent floats reaching two to three storeys high.  At midday the actual competition will start, with the groups performing for 60 minutes each.

Professional judges will evaluate the groups with their input accounting for 50% of the points.  The rest will be determined by SMS voting from the public.  At the stroke of midnight the winners will be announced and the top five groups will automatically qualify to enter into the next Carnival.

The Carnival songs will be recorded and distributed for months prior to the event with the intention that the public will get to know the songs and join in whilst their favourite group dazzle the judges and audiences.

“The idea is that ordinary citizens from diverse groups will work together to create something amazing. We hope that ad agencies, designers, architects, engineers, musicians and tailors will all offer their expertise to create the largest, most exciting Carnival in Africa,” says Isabel Meyer, Programme Manager of the Cape Town Carnival.

Although the idea was inspired by the Rio Carnival, the Cape Town Carnival will be uniquely South African. The Rio Carnival attracts approximately 500,000 visitors to the city and is broadcast across all the continents.  The Carnival Trustees are confident that, with the buy-in of everyone in our communities, commerce, tourism and creative industries, Cape Town could follow suit in the years to come.

Read about the 2010 Cape Town Carnival and other events in Cape Town in 2010 soon in our Cape Town events section, and subscribe to our Editor’s Picks Newsletter to make sure that you don’t miss out on any of our hand-picked selection of things to do in Cape Town!

Currently, Cape Town's most famous carnival is the Cape Minstrel Festival, and comes absolutely recommended: read more about the 2009 Kaapse Klopse carnival, which takes place on Tweede Nuwe Jaar!