page_title: Kaapse Klopse
section_title: Carnival today
hierarchical_section_title: Kaapse Klopse / Carnival today
context_page_description: The Kaapse Klopse is a minstrel festival that takes place annually on 2 January and it is also referred to as Tweede Nuwe jaar, in Cape Town, South Africa. As many as 13,000 minstrels take to the streets garbed in bright colours, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are self organised into klopse. Participants are typically from Afrikaans-speaking working class Cape coloured families who have preserved the custom since the mid-19th century.
  People consider the festival a rite of renewal that has been shaped by the Cape's history. The events that are associated with Klopse in the festive season include competitions for the Christmas Choirs, Cape Malay Choirs and Cape minstrel choirs.
  Under apartheid it was called the Coon Carnival by Capetonians, but local authorities have since renamed the festival the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival as the term coon is racist and derogatory.
context_section_description: On New Year's Eve, the Cape Malay Choirs or "nagtroepe" march through Cape Town. Thereafter, the minstrels parade through the city and on Tweede Nuwe Jaar, 2 January, the troupes and choirs take to the Green Point Stadium. Present day, the competition starts on the afternoon of 1 January and continues on 2 January and the following two Saturdays.
  Categories that are judged as part of the competitions include,
  Grand March Past – Quasi-military style parade
  Exhibition March Past – Display of fantasy and precise choreography
  Best Dress – Most beautiful uniform
  Best Board – Most imaginative and finest emblem
  Adult and Juvenile Drum Major – judged on quality of the dance
  English and Afrikaans Combined Chorus and Group Singing – songs performed by the troupe choirs, in part harmony
  English and Afrikaans moppies – comic songs sung by a soloist and the choir
  Juvenile and Adult Sentimentals – love songs interpreted by a soloist
  Best Band – determination of the best brass band accompany their troupe on the road and in the competitions
  Coon Song – An American Tune or jazz standard sung by a soloist
  The Special Item – any form of performance, 20–30 minutes long, chosen by the troupe
  The competition is judged by a panel of independent adjudicators and every group scores in each of the categories. The winners of the 2013 competition can be viewed on the Cape Town Minstrels Carnival Association.
  While many troupes now are supported by corporate sponsors, many refuse and remain sticklers for tradition. The 2005 carnival was nearly cancelled due to an alleged lack of funding, while the 2006 carnival was officially called off for the same reason. However, the troupe organisations subsequently decided to go ahead with the parade despite continued unhappiness over funding, and the festivities were opened by Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool on 2 January 2006.
caption: Minstrel in classic minstrel style struts his stuff at the Green Point Stadium in 2001
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