Carnival floats and costume production in full swing

With just a few weeks to go to the Cape Town Carnival, all the costumes and floats have been conceived and designed, and production is in full swing for the parade on March 19, 2011.
The costumes and accessories are being assembled on production lines under the eye of experienced costumiers Maria von Egity and Noel Hiebner. Maria and Noel have already overseen the process of taking measurements and conducting fittings for the over 2000 performers and lead dancers who will be parading down Long St.
A workforce of 35 people has been working six days a week to produce the costumes for each of the 10 pods of up to 200 performers and six showgirls and the workshop is alive with anticipation, excitement and about 10 000 colourful feathers!.
Over at Carnival World in the giant warehouse at Culemborg, the floats are being assembled by a team of 30 workers supervised by Brad Baard. Experienced professional set builders from the film industry are working with local artisans – and are passing on their skills so that a trained workforce will be available for next year's carnival.
The spectacular giant floats are being built on custom-made trailers which will be recycled for 2012. To further limit the size of the Carnival's carbon footprint the floats will be non-motorised and pushed up Long St by volunteers.