Excitement is mounting for the 15th edition of the Cape Town Carnival taking place next week.
The Green Point Fan Walk will come alive on Saturday 15 March with over 1 500 performers and 10 colourful floats set to take to the street.
People’s Post caught up with Chad Abrahams, head of the costume department, who explained that they were all set for the big day.
With the theme being WowZA, Abrahams explains that they aimed to encapsulate this through the costumes.
“It has been an enjoyable ride trying to lockdown the designs and sourcing the fabrics to costume over 1 400 performers. We source fabric throughout the country.
“It is rewarding because now we are finding places that we never knew about before. There is a wonderful place in Witbank that we are sourcing fabrics from.”
He explains that the designs for each costume are a team effort.
Abrahams says they are paying homage to the country’s national flower, the Protea.
“We had the Protea theme a few years ago, but we have now created a new-generation Protea.
“We are trying to celebrate the ‘wowness’ of Cape Town. The Protea is a national flower, but it’s also Cape Town’s pride and joy. For the first time, we also created a male-protea costume.”
According to Abrahams, the costumes were distributed to the various groups on Sunday 2 March for them to fit and check sizes.
“We don’t get to measure every participant, so we rely on the group leaders. So we try and hand out the costume two weeks before the carnival, so if there are any issues, we have two weeks to alter and fix it.”
He explains that the exciting task of creating the outfits rests on the shoulders of 11 people.
“We have three seamstresses, a cutter, a designer, and a fabrication department that takes care of headpieces and accessories.”
He encouraged people to attend and see all the magic come to life.
“People can look forward to ‘wow’ costumes. We are going out of our way to make sure this 15th anniversary is celebrated through our costumes.”
Win! People’s Post, is giving away a pair of VIP tickets. Send an email to win@peoplespost.co.za with the theme for this year’s carnival in the subject line. The winner will also get a double ticket for a one-night stay at the Southern Sun Hotel, valid for the night of the carnival. Remember to add your contact details in the body of the email. The winner will be notified by phone.
