Vincy Mas launch to gel with ICC T/20 World Cup

The 2023 launch of Vincy Mas admittedly fell below expectations as stated by chairman of the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC), Ricky Adams.

Changes have been made to this year’s launch which will see a packed day of events and collaborations with promotions for the upcoming 2024 ICC Men’s T/20 World Cup games.

This was revealed during a Monday, April 28, 2024 joint press conference hosted by the CDC and the Local Organizing Committee for the ICC T/20 World Cup.

“What we are doing this year we hope is a more exciting opportunity for Vincentians to get involved. Last year we did not have a very good launch. I
think we all recognized that. This year it is an opportunity for us to take it to the nation and encapsulate much more of the culture of Vincy Mas,” Adams said.

The launch of Vincy Mas was originally scheduled to be on the 4th of May. “It has been a tradition that we launch Vincy Mas on the first Saturday in May and that has gone on for a number of years but in discussion with the local organizing committee and the SVG Tourism Authority (SVGTA) we took the decision this year to revisit that traditional launch period and tag it to the tour of the ICC trophy which is going to be the 15 to 17 of May.”

The launch will kick off with a lunch time concert at Heritage Square featuring junior aspects of Vincy Mas including junior calypsonians and costume presentations. There will also be a DNA parade featuring traditional characters of Vincy Mas through Kingstown with representatives of the T-Shirt aspects of Vincy Mas and carnival costumes.

Following the parade, the next aspect of the launch will be a party which has been dubbed ‘Vincy Mas Super Bowl’ culminating at midnight. This will also wrap up the ICC Trophy Tour.

The local tour of the ICC T/20 World Cup trophy runs from May 15 to 17 at Heritage Square. In addition to SVG, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana are set to complete the West Indies leg of the Trophy Tour in May.

“We are also looking at there being a lot of eyes on the ICC tour and that bringing additional eyes to the launch of Vincy Mas. We had already come up with a slightly different packaging for the launch of Vincy Mas this year that we were already going to move it out of the Victoria Park and take it to the streets of Kingstown. We think that this presents an unprecedented fusion of sporting excellence, as well as the cultural celebration, and we hope that fusion will provide an unforgettable experience for the launching of Vincy Mas.”
Adams said Vincy Mas launch will culminate with a Jouvert parade around Kingstown.

“We are encapsulating 10 days of Vincy Mas in basically twenty hours,” Adams said.

Vincy Mas 2024 runs from June 28 to July 9.