Ghetto Carnival promises extraordinary street party

Koketso Kgoboge | Wednesday July 12, 2017 16:00

The carnival, the first of its kind nationally, is inspired by the famous Brazilian Carnival that is held annually in the capital city, Rio de Janeiro and others such as the Cape Town Carnival and the Victoria Falls Carnival. The three-day annual event kicks off with a pre-party at Thapama Pleasure Islands in the evening of July 14. The pre-party will see three local spin masters, DJ Cue, DJ Bunz and DJ Nel Deep up against South Africa’s DJ Crystal Powermix.

The main event, however, will be on July 15. Blue Jacket Street will be the place. According to Nqgabutho Khumalo, the event organiser, the street will be awash with colour. The decorations, he said, will stretch from the parade starting place at the old marketplace through the city centre street to Nzano shopping complex.

He said to spice up the event there will be a colour crazy float in the form of a low-bed truck that will make the procession. The truck will be carrying dancers and revellers from start to the end point. “We have organised with schools, different groups from the city’s localities, traditional and drama groups, the Chinese Society, the Indian Society and many others to be part of the colourful procession,” he said.

“It is going to be amazing. We have already secured the street and on Wednesday we will begin to colour the entire street from the market place to Nzano where a medley of performances from local acts will be carried out.” He encouraged all those who will grace the occasion to be creative, extraordinary and make the carnival an unforgettable experience.

“The carnival is about being crazy. We should think outside the box, whether it’s a donkey cart, bicycles, out of the ordinary costumes or anything as long as it’s coloured and crazy and will leave an impression. “This is about creating something that in future we will look forward to and will benefit a lot of individuals and businesses with the spin-offs.”

“We also envision this carnival as a permanent event in our calendar and in the local tourism calendar such as the Khawa Dune Challenge, Desert Race, Mascom Derby and many others that attract people from different walks of life,” he said. Khumalo said it is a blessing that the main day coincidentally clashes with the senior national team pulsating meeting with South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in the Total Champions of Africa (CHAN) at the Francistown Sport Complex.

He said to add to the activities they have also engaged the local Zebras supporters’ committee to prompt the supporters to join the carnival procession and double it as activation for the afternoon game. The carnival activities will break off at midday to make way for the game.

After the game in the evening all roads will lead to Molapo Leisure Gardens where Vee Mampezy and DJ Crystal Powermix will be headlining the carnival’s main party. The duo will be backed by a list of local acts such as DJ Collastraw, DJ Cheng, DJ Cue, Crozbred, Jay Black, Smash Gang, to mention but a few.

“We invite supporters to come celebrate our first win against South Africa at the main party after the game, it’s a perfect timing,” he said. July 16 will mark the end of the carnival with a chill session and a family fun day at the same venue.

The day will be inclusive of a spectacle of activities such as facing paintings, five a side football matches, horse riding and many others. The day will be wrapped up with a jazz chill session later with South Africa’s DJ Ace backed by locals DJ Slim, DJ Chronic and Team 94.