With little over two months to go before Cape Town’s biggest, brightest and boldest street carnival bursts onto the FanWalk in Green Point! The much anticipated Cape Town Carnival is an annual event that captivates Cape Town residents and visitors with a showcase of magnificent large scale floats, outrageous costumes, and impressively choreographed dance routines.
Each year the Carnival organising team engage in thorough research and planning to ensure that the selected theme is not only of high entertainment value, but that it also tells a fascinating story while taking spectators of all ages and ethnic groups on a journey of creative discovery. This year the team are thrilled to announce “Imagine” as the theme for the 2014 Cape Town Carnival and they promise to stage another sensational event!
“Imagination is the magic ingredient that makes new things possible and transforms old and outdated ideas. If you can’t imagine it, it’s hard to believe you can do it. We want to tickle people’s imagination with a sense of possibility,” says Brad Baard, the Carnival’s Creative Director.
Creating the reality of a shared celebration of cultural diversity and creativity that brings us all the people of South Africa together, is part of the Cape Town Carnival’s mission. It’s one of the reasons that the Carnival was selected as an official project of World Design Capital 2014.
The Cape Town Carnival is a glamorous celebration of African identity, diverse communities and cultures, and the transformative power of creativity.
In 2012 the Carnival took spectators from “Cape to Cairo”, depicting some of the breathtaking wonders of our country and the African continent, including Kenya’s Masai tribe, Tanzania’s bright pink Flamingos and South Africa’s own giant Crocodiles.
In 2013 the Carnival attracted an estimated 55 000 spectators and brought “African Legends” to life. Floats were inspired by mythological stories like Van Hunks and the Devil, The Flying Dutchman and the Khoisan folklore of the Mantis and the Moon.
From 3 pm on 15 March, Carnival-goers are encouraged to Own Your Streets as the Fan Walk turns into a pedestrian walkway filled with fun, food and folk enjoying the freedom of the city streets. The parade begins as the sun sets at 7:30 pm and is anticipated to last about 2 hours. Spectators can then party the night away at the Carnival end-party which will feature DJ Fresh and South African super-band MiCasa.
In 2014 the Carnival strives to maintain its incident-free record and the CCID (Central City Improvement District) will once again ensure the safety and security on the Fan Walk – all to make sure that the public’s Cape Town Carnival experience is nothing short of spectacular!
Here are the details:
Date: Saturday, 15th March – From 3pm (15:00) / Carnival parade from 7:30pm (19:00)
Venue: The Fanwalk, Somerset Road, Green Point
Cost: Free
For more information visit www.capetowncarnival.com or follow them on Twitter @CTCarnival and on Facebook here
