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International Carnival slated for May 21-26 in the capital.
A bevy of 23 models will strut their stuff at the pageant where the queen is expected to take part in the Miss World Heritage. Before pulling out of the Miss Zimbabwe contest which was organised by the Miss Zimbabwe Trust, the licence holders of the Miss World franchise, ZTA had recorded successes in running the pageant which they incorporated into their existing Miss Tourism Zimbabwe. The rebranding was meant to align the pageant as a tourism destination marketing tool and it was a success in that regard.
In handing back the licence, Karikoga Kaseke, the ZTA boss, cited the huge costs involved in running a national pageant of such magnitude, saying the authority could no longer sustain the costs, hence the decision to hand over the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe back to the Miss Zimbabwe Trust.
Though the pullout was reached amicably it was a tall order for the Miss Zimbabwe Trust to go it alone and their first pageant held last year was a total disaster. Not only did the ZTA leave the Miss Zimbabwe in a quandary but it also left with its platinum sponsors that had made the previous pageants a success.
The upcoming Miss Carnival will adopt a two-pronged approach as two queens will be crowned — Miss Carnival and Miss Heritage Zimbabwe. Whoever is crowned Miss Carnival will walk away with a US$20 000 cash prize as well as Mercedes-Benz C class while Miss Heritage will get US$10 000. Over and above the prizes, the models have been booked into a five-star hotel since the beginning of the boot camp.”
Effectively, this means that ZTA is now organising pageants again, although not under the Miss World franchise.
ZTA spokesperson Sugar Chagonda said the Miss Carnival idea was borrowed from countries like the Seychelles, Mauritius and Nigeria that host carnivals.
“The Miss Carnival is part of the major carnival and we observed they are used in other countries as destination marketing tools. So we saw nothing wrong in hosting our own Miss Carnival and we have since partnered the Miss Heritage. As you may be aware, we rebranded the Miss Zimbabwe because we wanted to use it as a marketing tool and we succeeded in that regard. I would not say that we have reneged on our previous decision.
“What you need to understand is that whoever wins Miss Carnival will play a leading role in the procession as well as street parties that will be taking place during the six-day extravaganza,” Chagonda said.
Asked about the timing of the carnival especially now that Zimbabwe is in winter, Chagonda said the festivities were meant to coincide with Africa Day which is celebrated on May 25.
“After a series of meetings with stakeholders it was agreed that the Zimbabwe International Carnival coincide with Africa Day. There is going to be lots of activities around that day and much of that will be centred around the theme of celebrating Africa, its pride, different cultures and the diversity. This is our first ever carnival and we are opening to advice so that we improve next year,” he said.
The world over, carnivals are outdoor events which are held in summer and not winter. It appears the Zimbabwe International Carnival is a unique one especially that people will have to brave the wintry nights should they strip down to their underwear.
leeroy