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The Cape Town Carnival parade is all about lights, colourful floats and enchanting performances. Each year the floats are carefully designed to wow audiences. But with the parade happening at night, proper lighting plays a crucial role in bringing the floats to life.
Raynard Sheridan-Gouws, lighting head at the Carnival, explains that he and his team of four people have the challenging yet rewarding task of adding that extra sparkle.
“We do all the lighting from scratch. We work with all the other departments to be able to see what materials they use. That will reflect what type of lighting we use. Every year it’s different depending on the theme and the time of year.”
On Saturday 16 March, spectators can see how the floats light up the Green Point Fan Walk when the parade kicks off at 19:00.
Visitors can look forward to a “lekker” performance, as this year’s theme suggests.
Sheridan-Gouws explains that precision and attention to detail are crucial.
“We have to keep in mind that the floats need to be packed up to be transported. So, the lighting needs to be flexible enough to be able to withstand that. All the lights that you see need to be disconnected and packed away and then reassembled on carnival day. That’s where things get challenging in the lighting department.”
He explains that on Carnival day, he works with a bigger team to ensure everything runs smoothly.
“We try to prevent challenges as much as possible here at the workshop so that when everything is connected on parade day it goes quicker. That’s why we have a bigger team then. It’s fun, and a lot of creativity and problem-solving goes into it. Everything is moving, so that is a bit of a tricky situation. But everyone is talented on the other teams, so that gives us inspiration too.”
Making sure performers dazzle as bright as the lights on the day is head of artistry, Raine Tauber.
Tauber explains that the make-up team consists of a big team that works on a strict deadline to ensure that the more than 1 000 performers are dazzled up.
“We use a lot of sparkles and glitter. It is one of the things that capture the light best when you have a large-scale performance like the carnival.”
She explains that preparations started last year. “We started the research process last year already. Looking at global trends and getting inspiration all over. Once we know what the theme is, that’s when we start getting to work on designs. The designing goes through quite a few processes in that we have to work with costumes. Every now and then things have to change because sometimes we have a performer change.”
People’s Post is the print media sponsor of the carnival.
