STORY:
Durban South Africa Planning Carnival

12 hour celebration will be part of global millennium broadcast

The Port of Durban Carnival, one of Durban South Africa's key attractions during it New Year's Eve celebrations, has been cut from two days to a one-day event. Still organizers say the carnival will show off Durban as South Africa's premier entertainment and tourist destination.

The carnival is one of three events in South Africa which have been identified to be broadcast internationally as part of the millennium festivities. The other two will be broadcast from Robben Island in Cape Town and the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

The Port of Durban Carnival will be staged in an area reaching from Festival Island on the Victoria Embankment, around the harbour's edge to the T-jetty.

The 12hour celebration will start at 6pm on New Year's Eve and include water stunts, aquatic fireworks, a boat carnival, trapeze artists, acrobats, a fair ground, musicians, stand-up comedians, food and beverage stalls and stands selling novelty items, as well as painters and sculptors.

Plans call for about 200 human props disguised as fire breathers, clowns on stilts and other characters to move around and entertain the crowds. Carnival-goers will be able to watch on nine big screens events taking place at other spots in the city.

At 10pm, a float parade from the city will enter the carnival to a welcome by King Goodwill Zwelithini and the first pyrotechnics display. Twenty floats are being built to show off Durban's diverse cultures and rich heritage.

Festival Island will have marquees serving corporate companies which would have their own entertainers. Admission to the carnival is R100 for adults and R60 for pensioners and children under seven.

Source: South Africa Times

DATE: 9/27/99

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