Minstrel carnival, Cape Town, Western Cape province

The Kaapse Klopse (or simply Klopse) is a minstrel festival that takes place annually on January 2, in Cape Town.

Up to 13,000 minstrels, many in blackface, take to the streets garbed in shockingly bright colours, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments.

Participants are typically from Afrikaans-speaking working class "coloured" families who have preserved the custom since the mid-19th century.

PHOTO SOURCE: Lanz von Horsten, courtesy of, and copyright, South Africa Tourism, a department of the government of South Africa, used with permission.

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