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Madame Zingara returns to Cape Town with brand new tent, artists and show

Madame Zingara's new tent on the Grand Parade

Madame Zingara’s new tent on the Grand Parade

Madame Zingara’s new show, The Celebration, will open in Cape Town on Tuesday 7 July 2015 in a custom-built tent currently being assembled on the Grand Parade in the city centre.

The current After Forever tour is about to complete its extended run in Durban, with the last show taking place in Madame Zingara’s celebrated 100-year-old travelling tent, fondly nicknamed Victoria, on 20 June 2015. The crew will then move into the brand-new custom-built Spiegelpaleis (‘mirror palace’) for the Cape Town season.

Made in Belgium, the new tent is three storeys high, with a new upper-level balcony and seating for 650 people (250 more places than Victoria). “The stage is much bigger, so we have more leeway with the performances,” says Madame Zingara’s media liaison, Olivia van den Heever. “We can now have whole troupes of artists instead of being limited to pairs or individuals.” Ticketholders can look forward to seeing 35 artists from around the world in an all-new spectacle.

Having set up at the V&A Waterfront in its previous Cape Town run, the Madame Zingara team decided to do something different this year. “We’ve been working quite closely with the city since taking over the Company’s Garden Restaurant, and our conversations led us to this venue. We wanted to bring people back to the Grand Parade, which is such an iconic and important landmark. We thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase this great area that’s under-used,” explains Olivia.

Madame Zingara has hired approximately half of the space on the Grand Parade, with the remaining trading area continuing to operate as normal. The parade has just received a R1-million facelift from the City of Cape Town, including energy-saving lights to improve public safety at night, and the aim is that the theatre show will have knock-on economic benefits, according to a city spokesperson.

The four-course menu included in the ticket price (R650 to R1250 per person) is still being finalised, but Olivia promises delicious, well-presented dishes that will offer something for everybody, and more choices than before. Because it’s a brand-new show, the artists are still flying in and the details are being tied down. “But it’s exciting that everything is starting to happen now…”

Visit the Madame Zingara Celebrations website to buy tickets and find out more. If you’re going to be in Johannesburg later this year, make sure to catch The Celebration show at Montecasino from 22 October 2015.

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