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Snowballs are the weapons of choice in Last One Standing, at the Drill Hall on Saturday evening. Inner city movers and shakers will take each other on in battle and in poetry.
Snow will be a weapon of choice for all participants
LAST ONE STANDING - a cutthroat snowball fight between 24 teams in which only one team can bag the trophy - is taking place at the 104-year-old Drill Hall, in Joubert Park on Saturday evening.
In the contest on 16 August, four teams of six players each will battle it out, using 5 000 snowballs, in three matches. The contestants have been selected from those people who shape the cosmopolitan city of Joburg, such as artists, boxers, managers, hairdressers, taxi drivers, mechanics, soap opera stars, trolley pushers, and models, among others.
"The event deploys snowballs as a medium through which a variety of people who have different stakes in the space of the inner city, can engage in managed combat with one another," explains Joseph Gaylard, the director of the Joubert Park Project.
Battle begins 6pm and ends at 8.30pm, followed by an after-party at the same venue, on the corner of Twist and Plein streets, in Joubert Park. Teams of poets and hip-hop performers will compete in the Battle of the Ballad of the Snowball.
There is limited parking available at the Johannesburg Art Gallery on King George Street, at the bottom of Joubert Park, from 4.30pm; shuttle buses will ferry people to and from the Drill Hall.
Last One Standing comes out of a partnership between the Snowball Fight Association of Switzerland and the Joubert Park Project, a group of artists who promote arts and culture in the inner city.
It's the first time such an event is taking place in Africa. "The African premiere of Last One Standing will bring together the citizenry of the inner city of Johannesburg in the staging of a spectacular international sporting event," Gaylard says.
The concept of "Last One Standing" comes from the British Broadcasting Corporation reality television show of the same name. In the show, six men travel around the world to participate in eight different sports. The man outperforms the rest in the most challenges is declared "Last One Standing". It was flighted on BBC television worldwide.
In Joburg, the winning team will be given the South African version of the Last One Standing Trophy, presented by the Snowball Fight Association.
Last One Standing looks at the history of snow in the city of gold. "[It] highlights the small but potent place that the snowball has occupied in the shaping of Johannesburg, with snowfalls in 1909, 1936, 1964, 1981 and 2007," he confirms.
"The city's memory of the snowball will be brought to life through the screening of exclusive archival imagery and acclaimed writers' anecdotes of snow in Johannesburg."
Drill Hall
The Drill Hall is a heritage asset and public space built in 1904. It was used by the military until 1992, and recruitments and mobilisation of the South African army for both world wars were conducted at the hall.
The Drill Hall will be the venue for a snowball fight taking place this Weekend
At present it is the headquarters of the Joubert Park Project; the Rand Light Infantry; Johannesburg Community Chest, which gives life skills training to disadvantaged people; and Johannesburg Child Welfare Society.
In all, 24 contestants will take part in the snowball fight, which will take place on a 9m x 18m court. Contestants have undergone rigorous training with the international snowball combatant and Joburg artist, Anthea Moys, and will all be clad in specially constructed gear developed by the Berlin designer, Birgit Neppl.
A technical team of five referees and snowball-makers will ensure strict adherence to the rules of the game and snowball specifications established by the international governing body, Gaylard explains.
Last One Standing takes place on Saturday, 16 August at the Drill Hall, on the corner of Twist and Plein streets, Joubert Park. Entrance is free and there is parking at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, on King George Street, from where a shuttle bus will operate to and from the Drill Hall.
For more information, telephone Dorothee Kreutzfeldt on 083 956 0507 or Joseph Gaylard on 082 598 4107.
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