The City of Cape Town’s Festive Lights Switch-On is scheduled for 26 November 2023 on the Grand Parade. This will be the 54th outing for this family-oriented free event which attracts thousands of people of all ages from across the entire metropole, including a growing contingent of foreign visitors to the tip of Africa.
This year, the City will provide festival goers with a glimpse into the future with a fresh new vibe and theme – Cape Town: A Future of Hope – that looks to meld the heritage of the city and natural environment with that of the promise of what a technologically charged tomorrow can bring.
Pyrotechnics display
Aside from an energetic line-up of artists, executive mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis will officially switch on the festive lights. Different this year, the switch-on moment will be directly followed by a pyrotechnics display and a spectacular light show mapped out on the wall of City Hall.
Also lighting up the Grand Parade is a giant 10-metre-high purpose-built tree that will be decorated with green foliage and festooned with lights to bring cheer throughout the festive period.
The artist line-up for the event will be released shortly, but the public can expect a raft of exciting competitions and prizes.
Dance competition
In the build up to the Switch-On, the City is hosting a Future of Hope Dance Competition in search of three Cape Town crews to join the line-up at the event. The winning group will also dance away with a R10 000 prize. All dance styles are welcomed – amapiano, hip-hop, breakdance, gwara-gwara or any other recognised dance form. Imagination is encouraged!
The top ten contenders will battle it out at a public dance-off to be held on 19 November at the V&A Waterfront from 1.30pm. Up for grabs for the top three are not only the honour of performing to festivalgoers, but the overall winning group will receive R10 000 to share, and the runner ups splitting a respective R5 000 and R2 000.
For competition info, see the WhatsApp line: 065 593 5121. To enter, Cape Town-based dancers, of any age, in groups of 2 – 10 members, need to upload a choreographed dance video of no more than two minutes to their own Facebook, Instagram or TikTok pages and tag @CTFestiveLights.
It is essential that the hashtag #CTFestiveLightsDance is used in posts so that judges can track the entries. Entries close at 12:00 on 15 November 2023, and the top 10 contenders will be notified soon thereafter.
What: City of Cape Town’s Festive Lights Switch-On 2023
When: 26 November 2023
Where: Grand Parade Cape Town
WS
