Cape Town Minstrel Carnival

Where: City Centre
When: 1-2 Jan
There’s something about the luminous multi-coloured satin suits and frenetic banjo-strumming of the Cape Minstrels that puts Capetonians in the party mood. The tradition has roots in the practices associated with slavery, when 2 January was given as a holiday to the slaves. Today singers and musicians still march through the streets of the Mother City (usually along Wale Street) complete with face paint, twirling parasols and some infectious beats, while ringing in the tweede nuwejaar (second new year).