Getting ready for Gauteng Carnival: all is going according to plan, says Barbara Creecy, MEC for sports, arts and culture

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Floats readied for street carnival With the Gauteng Carnival set for next weekend, workers are feverishly putting the finishing touches to their floats and costumes. September 3, 2007 By George Matlala PREPARATIONS for the province's biggest carnival are steaming ahead. And Barbara Creecy, the Gauteng MEC for sports, arts and culture, has visited the Home Makers building in Jabavu, Soweto, where people are building floats and sewing costumes for the Gauteng Carnival. It is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 8 September, winding its way through the streets of Braamfontein and Newtown. Creecy was greeted by the buzz of welding machines and the smell of paint as production assistants and trainees worked around the clock building floats. One of the floats being built is for Premier Mbhazima Shilowa, who will deliver the keynote address and lead the parade. It has two lions, two horns and replicas of Soccer City and Soweto Power Park. Creecy will stand alongside Shilowa on the float. The MEC also dropped in on the sewing room, where a group of women has been hired to sew 50 costumes for each region. "I am happy with the progress that has been made," she said. More than 7 000 participants are expected to take part in this year's parade, which has the theme Pale ya rona, which means telling our stories, or ours to tell. Floats will set off from the National School of Arts in Braamfontein, go through Braamfontein, cross Mandela Bridge and end up at Blue IQ Park in Newtown. Themes that will be seen on the floats and in the procession include Meropa ya sechaba sa Jozi (the rhythm of Jozi community on the move); Meshito ya Tshwane (the rhythm of Tshwane); Kgoro tsa merafe (the nation entrance) from Ekurhuleni; and Segametsi mohloding (water carrier) from Sedibeng. Gauteng Carnival is part of the province's Creative Industries Strategy, which is aimed at developing the creative industries to contribute to economic growth, job creation, community development and urban regeneration. "People who trained last year are training others," Creecy said, adding that she hoped that the carnival continued to attract more and more participants. "Across the world carnivals combine performing and visual arts into a celebration of collective identity and community aspiration." In Brazil and the Caribbean, carnivals had proven to be a major tourist attraction, bringing in millions of dollars. "We therefore invite the people of Gauteng to come and revel in the Pale Ya Rona Carnival." Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za