Five calypso tents and over 60 calypsonians will be looking to book a spot in the Dimanche Gras finals and the chance to dethrone reigning monarch Grantley ‘Ipa’ Constance, when the calypso tents kick off their programme of activities this weekend.

The first tent to get off the blocks is the New York based Dynamites, who kick off their activities tonight, at the popular Vincentian hangout Café Omar.{{more}}

This tent boasts a number of leading Vincentian calypsonians who are based overseas, including Exposer, Dennis Bowman, De Man Age and Man Sick. Next to launch would be the North/South Leeward tent on May 30th. This tent features, Joy-C, Bosalt, I Come and Observer.

On May 31st the On Tour calypso Tent will be holding their launch, they are the home of the reigning king, Ipa, and also features Toiler, Jeremiah, Rastaman I and Chico B.

Upstage Experience, one of the newest tents on the scene, will launch on June 1st. Its roster features persons like Skarpyon, Zola, Alla G, and Poser.

Eight days later on June 9th, the graduates calypso tent, home of former monarch Sulle, will launch. Graduates also feature Bump I, Lil Bit, Black Messenger and Nzimbu.

Preliminary judging is expected to start on June 13th , with the semifinals slated for Fantastic Friday June 29th, which leads up to the July 8th finals.

Meanwhile, 35 soca artistes will be selected for the soca monarch semifinals set for July 1st.

Of the 35, seventeen will move on to the July 7th finals at the Victoria Park.

The Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) earlier this week announced that registration forms are available for persons wishing to compete.

The CDC announced that the deadline for registrants is June 11th. (JJ)