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Together as One - Lucian Carnival 2001
 It’s carnival time and Lucia is hot, hot, hot. Even
non-revellers can feel the heat as the radio stations blare out the latest calypsos and revive the old
favourites. Television stations are also turning up the heat with replays of live performances, special carnival
programmes, displays of band costumes and carnival guests on every talk show. Everywhere you turn there is a front-page carnival story or a poster advertising an exciting new carnival activity. Open mas camps entice passers-by with the bright colours of carnival fabric, the sparkle of sequins and the glitter of carnival baubles; evoking nostalgia with the smell of paints and adhesives, the hustle and bustle of mas creation.
Yes, carnival in July! While it is a relatively new experience for St. Lucia it has not dampened the spirit of
revellers. There is as much a threat of rain in July as there was during the previous February date and while we cannot run to church for the traditional cleansing Ash Wednesday ritual, that’s not stopping anyone! Plus, as our e-poll clearly shows this a time when many Looshans and visitors head for this sunny isle, more wood for the fire!
Events are now full speed ahead, following the pause for the Jazz Festival after the official launch in Vieux Fort on May 19th. The main preliminary activities have gone by – the National Beauty Pageant (Queen Show) and Calypso Monarch Semi-finals, followed by Soca Monarch Finals and Kiddies Carnival this past weekend. Now it’s on to the big time, with events in De Big Yard and on the streets!
Two ongoing activities, Mas on the Square and the Carnival Street Party, will begin today
Monday, 9th. A Brass Festival on Wednesday will be followed by
Panorama on Friday 13th. This will mark the real start of carnival, with THE big event,
Calypso Monarch Finals, on Saturday, 14th.
Costumed bands in Vieux Fort and Choiseul will compete with their Parade of the Bands on
Sunday 10th. The major costumed bands will display their leading costumes for judging at the
King and Queen of the Bands in Castries on that same night. That show will run into
Jour o’uvert, 4a.m. on Monday morning in the streets of Castries and Gros Islet and the
Carnival Pageant later in the day when the major players will compete for the titles of Band of the Year.
That’s when the real bacchanal will start, after revellers leave work midday on
Tuesday 17th to don their costumes for the final long street jump-up
Parade of the Bands and Last Lap when all and sundry will join the costumed bands in the streets until late into the night, to close off events with a bang!
That will be the good part, because then we have to wake up on Wednesday to take that flight back home, or worse…to work!
Well…after joy….
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