The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) Chief Executive Officer Mr.Karikoga Kaseke officially opened the first ever Zimbabwe International Carnival (ZIC) workshop in Harare Monday (18 March), ahead of the ZIC slated to take place from the 21stto the 26th of May 2013.
Kaseke said as this was a new phenomenon to Zimbabwe and so it is important for all Zimbabweans and potential participants to fully understand and appreciate what a carnival is and what it entails whilst addressing guests at the opening.
“Carnival refers to a period of public revelry, partying and festivities for a common purpose at a regular time each year. It is merry making and feasting that brings together many people celebrating together,” he said.
The workshop which is open to anybody at no cost starts today at the Rainbow Towers at 1pm and it is being facilitated by a Brazilian delegation which is being led by Tatiana Bozzo from Global Vision Access which is a tourism consultancy firm. Participants will today be trained on how to design floats and costumes as well as getting choreography tips.
Mr. Kaseke said that his organization had chosen Brazil because they had vast experience when it comes to hosting international carnivals.
“For us to host a successful carnival we have to learn from the best and we have chosen Brazil to be our mentors for they are pioneers to hosting such events and they have a lot of experience as they started hosting carnivals as far back as 1968. Hence, to be the best we have to learn for the best,” said Kaseke.
Moving on, Kaseke added on that hosting such an event has numerous downstream social and economic benefits. By using Brazil as a case study when they host the Sao Paulo carnival it creates close to 30,000 direct jobs and generates an income of approximately US$256 million.
Zimbabwe has been participating in other international carnivals such as the Seychelles, Cape Town and will be attending one in Lagos, Nigeria at the end of this month. Zimbabwe has also hosted smaller carnivals such as the Victoria Falls Carnival in December last year.