Cape Town Coon Carnival
Cape Town, a city with a fascinating mix of the modern world blended with an exhilarating age-old African twist. A diverse legacy cultivated from an infusion of global cultures. This exciting culture was prepared and brewed for more than three hundred years, and resulted in a vibrant, unique atmosphere that truly comes to the fore during the New Year Coon Carnival.
Nowhere in the world can any carnival or Mardi
Gras be compared with the Cape Town Coon Carnivals in its splendor,
gaiety and unmistakably Cape flavor. In order to understand this
exciting blend of cultures, we need to go back in time, way back in
time, to the dark days of slavery and domination. The time when
slave masters violently abused and oppressed slaves.
For those of you not familiar with colonialism, slavery and the impact it had on shaping the Cape Town Creole society Click here
When the ex citizens of District Six, talk about the celebrations that took place when emancipation was proclaimed, It is easy to understand why the New Year Coon Carnivals, tradition and the songs are still alive today.
"Our songs come from our forefathers and their fathers before. They were oppressed when they came. They came here as slaves you know and they were always the oppressed and so the only way they could express themselves was putting it in words, singing, dancing, making music and being jolly. So that the next one would think we are happy. In the meantime we are expressing our feelings about certain things"