adminMelissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
THE city of Harare was indeed turned into a party capital over the weekend when it hosted the Harare International Carnival Street parade which saw people partying on the streets non-stop for over 20 hours. The street parade, which kicked off on Saturday morning with a junior carnival, was a hit among many as people were for the first time allowed to consume alcohol publicly.
The carnival was hosted for mainly one reason, to unite people as it was the Tourism Ministry’s hope to see the people of Zimbabwe celebrating their diversity. Indeed, their wish came to pass because the ministry, which hoped to achieve Gross National Happiness, did so in a day as the people of Zimbabwe partied hard like there was no tomorrow.
Since the carnival concept is still fairly new to Zimbabweans, people were at first more of spectators not participants as they were visibly scared to be arrested for public drinking in the intimidating streets of Harare. They later warmed up when they realised alcohol was being sold on the streets and that the police did not seem to mind them drinking.
Groups took turns to showcase their cultures with some dressed for the occasion and some dressed for a march not carnival. The Zimbabwe National Traditional Dance Association (ZNTDA) left a mark as different groups took turns to showcase the best of the Zimbabwe’s diverse arts and culture.
Tourism Minister, Walter Mzembi and his deputy Walter Kanhanga were dressed by Trinidad & Tobago. Carnival Queen Zimbabwe Gamuchirayi Kujeke and her princesses were not so impressive as they wore Cinderella ball gowns — good enough for weddings, not a carnival. The gowns limited their fun as they had difficulties moving around in them.
Zimbabwe’s hub of culture, Bulawayo was also a big disappointment as it was not well represented at this year’s carnival. Though Sandra Ndebele and her Intombi Zomqangala dance group and Magesh dance group were present, they did not leave much of a mark compared to other regions who attended the carnival in their numbers. Though the group was awarded for their performance, the group was not as energetic as they usually are.
People were visibly amazed by the diverse performances they saw at the street party as over 50 local groups and 20 countries were part of the parade. But of the 20 countries which paraded, it was Trinidad & Tobago, Botswana, Brazil and Italy who stole the hearts of many.
Trinidad indeed showed why they were rated one of the best carnival hosts in the world as they had the most colourful float with masquerades and stilt walkers. While other floats played music from CD’s, their float was amazing as they had a powerful live Orchestra Steel band. Italy and Botswana on the other hand were smartly dressed and put up an impressive well choreographed act.
The day almost belonged to Brazil as the otherwise reserved Zimbabweans were fascinated by the samba costumes which comprised of bikini bottoms and feathers – leaving nothing to the imagination. But this was before erotic dancer, Bev took to the streets. One would have sworn she had a rented crowd because, as she was parading doing her sexually suggestive dance routines, her fans could not help but scream and ambush her truck which she and her dancers were using.
The fans literally wanted to lift the car and Bev had to dump the car and took her act on top of a bus – hoping fans would not interrupt her. They followed her all the way from Rotten row — where the parade started to Africa Unity square which was the last point.
Upon arrival at the Africa Unity Square where she was meant to perform in front of judges and VIP guests, Bev jumped off the bus and took to the ground for her performance. As she started, thousands of fans went berserk and destroyed the barricades, making their way to their star to have a clear view of her performance. Carnival route managers had to intervene and stopped Bev from performing and quickly took her away from the scene.
The erotic dancer who had since quit her dancing profession seems to have returned with a bang as her fans were clearly hungry for her performance. She is indeed a force to reckon with as she is a clearly a crowd favourite.
The night before the street parade, Bev had left many crying for more after her performance at the Samba Night. Her performance was actually better than the Brazilians as she had various acts as compared to the Brazilians who seemed to only have one dance routine.
Bev’s counterpart, Zoey failed to impress, both at the Samba Night and street parade as her act was not polished. It was so bad that when Zoey abruptly joined the Samba Queens on stage, people booed and dragged her away as she was spoiling the act.
This year, organisers of the carnival, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority went an extra mile to make sure people partied because after the street parade, Harare was turned upside down as a series of parties had been organised. A lot of trucks with stages and P.A systems had been strategically positioned around the CBD with different dancehall DJs including Judgment Yard and RedFox Sound taking care of carnivalistas’ needs with drinks flowing freely.
A Carnival Dancehall night which was also held on Saturday evening was a hit among many as the show was sold out. The venue – Harare Gardens was packed to the rafters and was the only carnival show which had tight security with ZRP dogs as dancehall is synonymous with rowdy ghetto youths.
Besides the interruption from Bev’s fans, this year’s carnival was better organised as there were barricades separating the crowds from the floats compared to last year where it was difficult to separate the crowds from the floats.
Online Reporter