Power of Culture, Spirit of Fun

13.JUL.07

Carnival this year truly lived up to its slogan of “Power of Culture, Spirit of Fun”, as was demonstrated by the superb display of our culture and atmosphere of fun over the last ten days or so.{{more}}

Vincentians and visitors alike came out in their numbers to the shows, street jump ups and street bars with a dogged determination to have fun despite the pre-Carnival violence which had threatened to put a damper on the festival.

We had a vintage year of absolutely superb Vincy soca music produced by our talented young artistes, and the infectious beat and catchy lyrics proved to be a real stress reliever. Even calypso, which a few years ago was said to be dying, seems to have been restored to full health, or at least is well on its way to that state.

Monday afternoon t-shirt jump up is back, hopefully for good. Participation in J’Ouvert Old Mas seems to have fallen off after a rebirth over the last 3 or 4 years. The younger set seems to prefer the painted bands to the Old Mas; there is room for both, so in building one, lets not allow the other to die.

The mas was good, so too were the pan competitions, even though we only had three pan sides in the senior competition. Outfitting a steel orchestra and getting it ready for competition is an expensive exercise that is only possible with sponsorship. Calls have been made for the private sector to give more support to pan, but the level of sponsorship required is such that many businesses question the value of the return they get on their investment.

Hats off therefore to the components of Carnival and to the Carnival Development Corporation, which came in for a great deal of criticism this year. CDC you can feel good, you put on a good show.

The police too must come in for high praise. They were present everywhere, and this was indeed comforting, at least to law abiding citizens.

There are a few areas however, which need attention if we are to move to the next level with our national festival. We need to have another look at the Miss Carival show, which is becoming, quite frankly, monotonous. The suggestion that the swimsuit segment be judged and filmed in the Grenadines prior to the night of the show is a good one, which should boost our tourism, and cut down on the length of the show. We also need to reconsider the talent segment.

What about the role played by Miss Carival? Successive winners, like the winners of the Miss SVG pageant have expressed their disappointment with not having had a more active reign. Could she become a spokesperson for the CSME or some similar regional undertaking?

Is there nothing that can be done to get Mardi Gras off to an earlier start? We need to go back to the drawing board with regard to that show to look at what we can do so that patrons are not left sitting at Victoria Park for hours before the show begins.

We are also calling on the CDC to publish their preliminary income and expenditure statement for the festival in the interest of transparency and openness. Up to a few years ago, the CDC would let the public know by the next day what the gate receipts for the show the night before were. We are by no means suggesting misuse of funds by the CDC, but the private sector that supported the festival so admirably, should see what use was made of their donation. Also, the contributions from the National Lotteries Authority and Government are public funds and we have a right to know.