Congratulations to the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government on a fantastic Cape Town Street Parade.
If you weren’t in town for the mother of all street parties, you missed out big time.
Between 50 000 and 60 000 revellers rocked up for one of the most successful Tweede Nuwe Jaar marches in memory.
It was also great to see local celebs - including our own Springbok captain - in klopse gear and joining the jol.
What a fabulous advertisement for the klopse.
Slamat to all involved in the CTSP, the hard work paid off.
Wednesday’s mega jol also showed once again that the minstrel carnival is in the right hands and moving in the right direction.
This year, the organisers had introduced a few innovations to the traditional Tweede Nuwe Jaar format.
Not everyone was happy about the “upgrades”, but hey, if you’re not growing and evolving, then you’re busy vrekking.
However, while some of the additions worked, others flopped.
Here’s some of the feedback from mense on the day:
Pre-event, all the talk had been about the “route change” and how it broke from tradition.
Well, all it was was a little detour from Darling Street onto the Grand Parade, around the Gig Rig, and then back onto Darling Street.
(Even if you were using GPS, you wouldn’t have noticed a change.)
The Coca-Cola Gig Rig was one of those mobile stages and was where the opening acts performed.
Although not strictly klopse acts, it was a lekker showcase for Kaapse talent.
IMPROVE: A bigger stage should be arranged at the event
Local favourites such as Loukmaan Adams, Waseef Piekaan and Shadley Schroeder - who all made a name for themselves as klopse - entertained the crowd before the troupes started marching.
It was another reminder that minstrel talent works well on concert and even theatre stages.
The one gripe was that the Gig Rig - a narrow stage on the back of a trokkie - was not big enough.
Maybe a Big Rig next year?
Another issue was that the troupes were running late. The procession was delayed by about an hour.
This is not fair on the waiting crowd and the latter troupes who then have to cut down on their marching time.
No, if we want a world-class carnival, this unprofessional nonsense must stop.
But the biggest complaint of the day was the Golden Circle.
The R100 tickets offered prime viewing from the Grand Parade - and this was the main selling point - under a gazebo.
As it turned out, our old friend the Southeaster had other ideas and played havoc with the structure.
This meant the “VIP” crowd had to bake in the sun along with the rest. Not cool.
This concept needs to be improved on if it is to become a sustainable source of revenue for the event.
Yes, revenue. This is a key issue.
The klopse community needs to stop thinking of itself as a charity case and expecting the government to cover every cost.
After all, government doesn’t own the carnival, they are there to assist.
There is good money to be made and opportunities for sponsorship deals from a mass event like this.
Money which can be used to not only stage the carnival but also grow the event.
It requires a bietjie business savvy, and the Golden Circle and the Big Rig are just a few ways of commercialising the event - without breaking the rich traditions of Tweede Nuwe Jaar, of course.
Honestly, it was so unnecessary that certain troupes decided to stop playing as they passed the Parade on Wednesday.
Their silent protest at the “route change” was booed by the disappointed crowd and rightly so.
Was it even a route change? The original route went through Darling Street. The Parade is also in Darling Street, is it not?
So why the drama?
Ai, if the klopse associations could only put their politics aside, we’d have a much more enjoyable and successful Tweede Nuwe Jaar for klopse and klopse lovers.