Sixty members of the NPO Vannie Hanover Park not only performed on stage at the Cape Town Arts Festival recently, but also on the rooftop of the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town.
The NPO was one of the artists or groups who performed at the festival and has been invited to the 2023 edition.
“We were 60 members at the festival and hosted a step class on stage. We also had the privilege to perform a taibo fitness class on the rooftop of the Castle, and that was amazing. We had a 360-degree view of what Cape Town looked like from the rooftop and could see Robben Island clearly,” says Glenn Hans, founder of the NPO.
Besides the fitness classes, five members did face-painting for the kids visiting the festival.
“Various stalls were set up where you could buy something to eat and entry was free of charge. Live entertainment kept the feet moving, especially if you were not into fitness classes,” Hans says.
“For a lot of the members of the NPO it was the first visit to the Castle and I believe the experience and being part of the festival created a lot of new memories. We are looking forward to next year’s festival and are planning already,” says Hans.
Vannie Hanover Park was established by Hans during 2020 when Covid-19 hit globally and residents in and around Hanover Park were confined to their homes and could not mingle with others.
“It was a tough time for everyone and I decided to give fitness classes on an open field to get people together and to give them the opportunity to forget about the covid-pandemic,” he says.
Since he started the numbers of people joining his NPO grew and he tries to engage the members in festivals or other interesting events to expose them to other people and other scenery.
