The Kaapse Klopse (or simply Klopse), officially named the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, is a traditionally Cape Coloured minstrel festival that takes place annually on 2 January in Cape Town, South Africa.
The festival is also referred to as Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Afrikaans for Second New Year). As many as 13,000 minstrels take to the streets, garbed in bright colours, carrying colourful umbrellas and playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are self-organised into klopse ("clubs" in Kaapse Afrikaans, but more accurately translated as troupes in English). The custom has been preserved since the mid-19th century.
Under apartheid, the period of government-enforced racial segregation and stratification in South Africa, the festival was known as the Coon Carnival, but local authorities have since renamed the festival the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival as the term coon is widely considered an ethnic slur.
There is contention around the continued use of blackface by festival performers.
thumb|upright|Cape Minstrel during Minstrel Carnival 2017
History
thumb|Cape Town procession on the anniversary of slave emancipation
On the eve of 30 December, people gather in the Bo-Kaap (Malay Quarter in Signal Hill) to await the Tweede Nuwe Jaar (2 January) with the songs of Malay choirs and ghoema drums ushering in the dawn of a New Year.
During the 19th century, the New Year was celebrated by the Dutch and was considered to be the biggest annual feast. Slaves would get a day off on 2 January and were allowed to celebrate in their own manner. Slavery was officially abolished in the Cape on 1 December 1834. The Tweede Nuwe Jaar became a celebration that united the "creole culture" in Cape Town. It is estimated that the first carnival troupe was organised in 1887.
In the apartheid years, the Cape Minstrels sang songs like "Dis'n nuwe jaar" ("It's a new year"), and many local songs, which were more true to the Cape Province and the local milieu.
Modern Cape Minstrel tradition was influenced by the visit to the Cape by American minstrels. Old Cape minstrels, such as "The Ethiopians", had their own collection of Dutch and American songs. These minstrels used to parade the streets of Cape Town and serenade the locals with their songs. An etching by Heinrich Egersdorfer in 1884 depicted those regular marches by the local chapter of the Salvation Army, which included many of the locals, could have contributed to the style of the marching that the Klopse displays today.
In the 1900s, the celebrations took place at various locations. In 1907 Green Point Cricket Club organised the first formal Carnival and moved it to the Green Point Track which later became a tradition. The now deceased iconic musician Taliep Petersen, is claimed to have said of Tweede Nuwe Jaar celebrations, "Dis onse dag" ("It is our day"). It is a day when the local working class community which survived slavery, segregation and Apartheid celebrates its existence and perseverance.
Troupe organisation
thumb|upright|Troupe on Darling Street during the January 2011 festival
In 1880–1890, celebration bands and groups linked as societies with sports clubs with distinguishable emblems and dress paraded through the city and suburbs on New Year's Eve. These societies prepared special costumes for New Year's and these became a crucial part of the event. More than 60 minstrel troupes, some a thousand strong have been known to participate in the marches. Minstrel troupes are fiercely competitive and the preparations leading towards the parade, costumes and performances are kept as secrets until the big reveal on the day. They compete for trophies such as the "Champion of Champions award". This award has been won by the Pennsylvanians for 10 years in succession. The minstrel troupes give a sense of pride and community to the group members. The "ghoema" drum is the common thread that binds together all the music of the carnival. However, the troupe organisations subsequently decided to go ahead with the parade despite continued unhappiness over funding, and the festivities were opened by Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool on 2 January 2006.
Impact on societies
Modern celebration of Tweede Nuwe Jaar is a reminder of the slave past of colonial Cape Town, the importance of music and dance as part of the celebration of freedom. The klopse has played a significant role in addressing social challenges like crime, drug abuse, and AIDS. It is also used to build bridges between the communities after the apartheid era. Apart from providing entertainment, the Kaapse Klopse has also become a means of building skills in the community. The Kaapse Klopse and associated choir singing give the participating children the opportunity to learn the art of performing music and dance and exposed them to practising music three times a week in preparation for their performances. These activities paved the way for world-famous musicians like Taliep Petersen and Jonathan Butler who both received the "Juvenile Sentimental Trophy" awards in previous competitions. and, in 2011, the City of Cape Town restricted parading in the Bo Kaap. Following protests by the minstrels, the Minstrels got permission to march in the Bo Kaap the following year.