The progress about preparations of the 2018 Harare International Carnival is impressive since stakeholders are now ready for the showcase.
By Munyaradzi Dhure
The Ministry of Environment Tourism and Hospitality Industry engaged with its marketing arm, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to announce the progress of preparations for the fifth edition of the Harare International Carnival slated for October 2018.
The previous harmonised elections that took place in July hindered the initially planned July dates resulting despite the fact that some Germans had already secured their tickets for the carnival that was penned for July.
Speaking at a press conference at the New Ambassador Hotel in Harare Dr. Karikoga Kaseke, the chief Executive of the ZTA stressed that, “Carnival is back again from around the country, we thought we could do it during the campaign of elections in July but the situation forced us to postpone the dates.
“We had also secured the dates as from the 13th of October but unfortunately the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is also holding its commissioners fun fare, so to avoid competition we were advised to reschedule our dates to 20 October”.
The Chief Executive officer unveiled the theme for this year’s carnival and explained on how these annual themes are set.
“The theme of this year reads, CELEBRATING HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS FOR A NEW ZIMBABWE. Everyone is free to propose a theme long as it’s fostering a spirit of mutual understanding within people. This years theme was proposed by Chamunorwa Mashoko and he is not part of the ZTA”, he said.
The chief executive outlined a number of reasons why they carry out carnivals annually.
“We carry out carnivals to make the people of Zimbabwe happy, to create a platform for citizens to escape their daily hardships, present and preserve the tangible heritage of Zimbabwe as well as to show and promote Zimbabwe’s branding.
“It is a culture we are embracing and there is nothing immoral about Brazilians dancing. “Zodwa waBantu never did anything immoral”, he said.
This year’s block parties were reduced from 40 to 15 to avoid commotion.
So far the countries which registered to be part of the carnival include Angola, Brazil, USA, Malawi, Egypt, Ghana and Italy, just to mention a few.
Fundamental questions on the concerns of cholera and typhoid did not worry the carnival organisers. The organisers said they believe and have faith in the new Cabinet, in particular the health sector under the Minister Obadiah Moyo, to have the capacity to address the cholera outbreak ahead of the Harare International Carnival.
All last years winners of the Harare International Carnival were invited to attend the prize giving ceremony in Harare on Friday the 14th of September at the New Ambassador Hotel at 10 o’clock in the morning.
“We apologise for the delay, we still have the prizes of the winners of last year. Let’s work together, stake holders and fellow citizens to rebrand our new Zimbabwe.”
