CT Carnival, a celebration of art, music and dance

This year the venue moves from Long Street to the popular Fanwalk and promises to transform this Carnival corridor into an explosion of colour, music and dance. "Due to the overwhelming support the carnival garnered last year, we had no choice but to move to a larger space to accommodate the continually growing audience,'' said Jay Douwes, CEO of the Cape Town Carnival.

Unveiling the 2012 theme, "Cape to Cairo" the Cape Town Carnival will celebrate the rich history and diversity of the city, country and continent. "The theme of this year's Carnival not only celebrates the rich art, music, culture and heritage of the African continent, but it also helps raise awareness around important issues like xenophobia," said Paul Mashatile, Minister of Arts and Culture.

Best dancers will go to Rio Carnival

The carnival parade includes 11 themed Pods with 80 lead performers in larger than life costumes, nine richly decorated floats and 11 academies. Each academy has 150 community dancers and the Cape Town Carnival brings together 45 community performance groups from 23 different areas in Cape Town. The three best lead dancers on the night will travel to Brazil to perform at the 2013 Rio Carnival.

The Cape Town Carnival is the result of months of hard work by the carnival and event production teams, costume designers and producers, float builders, choreographers and hundreds of community members and volunteers all aimed at bringing the theme to life in a dazzling journey of the imagination. "The Cape Town Carnival is a gem on our annual events calendar and the Western Cape Government is proud to be one of its supporters. I would like to encourage all the people of our city and province to participate in this lively event as it showcases the very best of what our destination has to offer," said Alan Winde, Provincial MEC of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism.

Late night public transport available

Food and beverages will be available from the various restaurants, cafes, bars and additional street vendors along the carnival corridor. MyCiti bus services will be in operation and spectators are encouraged to use public transport on the day to avoid inner city congestion. Late night trains and buses will be provided to take people home after the event.

The objectives of the Cape Town Carnival are multi-faceted - celebrating diversity, fostering social cohesion, promoting economic development and tourism and facilitating training and development, particularly among the youth of Cape Town. Grant Pascoe, Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing said the Cape Town Carnival is in pace with many of the City of Cape Town's tourism and events objectives - involvement of Capetonians as spectators and participants, creative expression for local artists, activation of public spaces, and showcasing Cape Town vibe for visitors.

For more info, go to www.capetowncarnival.com.