issue 4 digital copy

Cultural Travel
South Africa’s daily news headlines are enough to
make anyone feel depressed. But they hide an
essential truth about this country and its people:
despite so much bad news, South Africans
are really a jolly, fun-loving nation in a country
blessed with a colourful and diverse abundance
of festivals, carnivals and fun celebrations of
every description.
In fact, the country may have more festivals than most comparable
other countries. South Africans seem to need little or no excuse to
let their hair down and party, celebrating everything from olives and
cherries, to the start of the fishing season in Cape Town, the arts,
prickly pears, oysters, witblits, whales, crayfish, science, wildlife, wine,
jazz and even the attempted blowing up of the British parliament in
1605. Do you get the idea?
Cape Town’s famous minstrel carnival where marching troupes, dancers and musicians take
over the streets every January 2 / urbancowboy - Shutterstock.com
And as a tourist attraction they draw fun-loving people from all over
the world.
Cape Town Minstrel Carnival
Probably the oldest festival or carnival, and one of the most popular,
that still takes place each year with a colourful explosion of marching
bands and choirs, troops of marchers and dancers, and colourful
costumes and makeup through the city streets, is Cape Town’s
Minstrel Carnival. It is also known variously as the Coon Carnival (used
not in a derogatory sense, although these days the term ‘minstrel’ is
preferred) and, in Afrikaans, the Kaapse Klopse (the more original or
traditional name). This joyous celebration – with troops competing
fiercely for top honours – starts with a night-time street parade on
New Year’s Eve, followed by a mass event at Green Point Stadium on
Tweede Nuwejaar (second New Year, or 2nd January).
The carnival is said to have originated with slaves being given time off
by their masters to celebrate New Year on the 2nd January each year.
It later gained further momentum when former slaves celebrated the
official end of slavery in December 1834 with street parades, bonfires
and fireworks. Its further development was influenced by American
minstrels who regularly visited the Cape, hence the similarity in
costumes and makeup.
Today locals, joined by visitors from all over the world, can join in
the celebration with their beloved minstrels each year in what has
become a multi-million rand extravaganza, and a truly original Cape
Town event as much part of the Mother City as Table Mountain.
There are far too many organised festivities in South Africa to list
them all here. But the list that follows will give our readers some idea
of all the fun they can choose from during the year, each year.
58 |ISSUE 4|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZI TRAVEL