Cape Town holds the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival around the New Year period.
The carnival is also called Tweede Nuwe Jaar, Afrikaans for “Second New Year,” and is traditionally associated with January 2. Minstrel troupes, known as klopse, parade through Cape Town in colorful uniforms while performing music and dancing. The event is especially connected with communities historically known as the Cape Coloured community.
Its history reaches back to the colonial era, when enslaved people in the Cape observed a holiday on January 2. Over time, the occasion developed into a large musical parade with marching bands, costumes, songs, and competitions. The event's cultural meaning has also been shaped by apartheid-era segregation and later debates over representation and tradition.
Although it is linked to New Year celebrations, Tweede Nuwe Jaar is not simply Cape Town's midnight countdown. It is a separate, daytime cultural procession held after January 1 and is one of the city's most distinctive annual traditions.