Carnival bright colours to bring Johannesburg to life

12 August 2008

A blaze of colour, thundering music and dance will bring Johannesburg to life on Saturday, 06 September 2008 when the 4 th Pale Ya Rona Gauteng Carnival comes to town.About 15 000 participants from 45 troupes are expected to participate in this year's carnival parade which will depart from Mary Fitzgerald Square and end up at the Johannesburg stadium. The route will be starting at Bree and Mirriam Makeba streets via Joe Slovo, Saratoga / Charlton Terrace in to the Johannesburg Stadium.

The Tourism Department of Trinidad & Tobago will also be bringing 22 " Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille Steel Orchestra Trinbago Steel Pan Band "to participate in the carnival. They are the current reigning medium band champion in Trinidad and Tobago .

The Department has also struck partnerships with the French Institute, Embassy of the People's Republic of China to bring their lion and dragon dancers. The Afrikaanse Volkspele, Scottish, French, Portuguese and Tamil federation will be joining in the parade alongside the communities of Gauteng.

"This year we began to finalize and expand on our training initiatives and skills transfer programmes. In March 2008 we implemented our first international skills exchange programme with Stephen Derek, one of the leading exponents of the cultural art form of carnival costume design and construction in Trinidad & Tobago.

He spent two weeks at the Sibikwa Community Art Center in Ekurhuleni transferring these skills to 30 young carnival practitioners from our carnival camps. The large costumes that he assisted in designing and building will be featured in this year's carnival", said the MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Barbara Creecy.

The Carnival parade is the culmination of months of hard work from community groups, artisans and artists across Gauteng . It is a choreographed presentation of the stories gathered from each region told in terms of costume, dance and music. Upon arrival at the stadium paraders will participate in an arts festival accompanied by a carnival show for those who missed the parade.

This year the Department will establish the Gauteng Carnival Commission based on the Trinidad & Tobago model to ensure that in the future the carnival is owned, managed and driven by stakeholders from all communities.

For more information contact: Nomazwe Ntlokwana on 011 355 2578 / 083 507 8068