Vincy Mas blasts off from Leeward, Windward

Hundreds of persons from throughout the length and breadth of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) took to the streets last Saturday May 5, for the launch of the 2018 edition of Vincy Mas.

Action began in the morning with whistle stops on both the Leeward and Windward sides of mainland St Vincent. Persons on the Windward side took to the streets and were entertained by disc jockeys from Xtreme 104.3 FM, while the Leeward side revellers were hit with music from VC3 and “DJ Niko”.

Female masqueraders taking part in the launch of Vincy Mas last Saturday.

The Carnival Development Corporation’s (CDC) “Buss ah Lime” activity, which saw persons partying on a bus was a hit with Carnival lovers who partied onboard the bus before joining the afternoon lime

Starting from 12 noon, the Cruise Ship Terminal at Upper Bay Street came alive with the “Junior Fete World”. This new activity was filled with entertainment for the children which included face painting and junior soca and junior calypso performances by several young artistes from the various primary and secondary schools.

A band from the Sandy Bay Government School and “Skyliners” from the St Vincent Grammar School were hits with the crowd. The mini concert also featured steel pan and DJ Music.

The street parade began at 5 pm and saw pan around the neck musicians, “Boosie Back”, “Moko Jumbie” or stilt men, mas from bands like Blondie Bird and Friends and Ahdrenalin Mas Band while the 2018 Miss St. Vincent and the Grenadines contestants were in the motorcade.

Masqueraders and other revellers took to the streets of Kingstown behind music trucks belonging to companies like FLOW and the St Vincent Brewery Limited. The CDC’s truck displayed the winners from past Vincy Mas competitions. On these trucks were persons like Delroy “Fireman” Hooper (2017 Soca King), Chewalee Johnson (2015 Ragga Soca King) and Kristian Christopher (Junior Calypso King 2017 Primary School).

The gigantic street parade ended at Victoria Park where the main concert began and saw FLOW DJs, DJ Beds and DJ Q entertaining the hundreds gathered.  Veteran calypsonian Glenroy “Sulle” Caesar addressed the trending topic of sexual violence with his song “Rape yo self” while another veteran in the business Michael “Lord Have Mercy” Ollivierre did “Evaluate”, a song that touched on several issues including Yugge Farrell /Camillo Gonsalves fiasco, the Morgans’ court case and the walkouts from Parliament by members of the New Democratic Party (NDP).Other performers included Nickie Pierre with her hot new single “Hot and Gingay”, Chewalee Johnson aka the “Rumist”, Bomani Charles, Shaunelle McKenzie, Joel “Dynamite” Tyrel, “L Pank” and Hance John.

FLOW also used the opportunity to launch its Carnival Monday band. The launch saw performances from the FLOW Heavy Hitters, Rondy “Luta” McIntosh and Delroy “Fireman” Hooper. Also performing during this segment were “Mason” and “Dymez and Pixel”.The event also saw the appearance of the 2018 Miss SVG contestants and heard speeches from Minister of Culture Cecil McKie and Chairman of the CDC Ricardo “Ricky” Adams.