CDC wants more people to attend Carnival shows

While the number of participants in Mardi Gras grew this year and Vincy Mas 2016 is being described as a huge success, chair of the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) Dennis Ambrose is hoping that in 2017, persons can embrace shows at Carnival City, Victoria Park.

Giving his post Vincy Mas review on Thursday, Ambrose said that patrons coming into Victoria Park to show support at events like Mardi Gras is important.{{more}}

“In all of it, however, our continued hope is that more persons would actually come into Carnival City, into Victoria Park to show their participation here as well.

“Take for example, Mardi Gras, not as many people were in the stands at the park, but as the Mas Bands leave the park for the uptown parade, there were scores and scores of people literally pouring into Kingstown to watch the revellers on the open street,” said Ambrose.

He stressed that the entry fee to the Victoria Park is not very high and the setting at the Park is a friendly one, “so fixing that part of the formula remains a challenge for the CDC. It was also similar at Junior Carnival.”

Apart from that, Ambrose described Vincy Mas 2016 as having met the expectations, “of all the hard-working groups and individuals who toil behind the scenes, to bring us the spectacular display of colour, in many uses and mixes, artistry, design, pageantry, calypso, soca, and pulsating sounds of pan.”

He added, “public participation on the streets was epic. On Carnival Monday, the streets of Kingstown were literally choked from wall to wall with revellers, from at home and abroad. The spirit of Carnival was everywhere. The CDC and is subcommittees can say that our hard work has paid off.”

Ambrose also noted that the size of the mas bands this year also showed growth and this also means growth in the festival.

“….this year with Mirage topping the cap at 900 strong. This is a record-breaker, and Mirage must be congratulated for this giant step.

“It cannot be said that Vincy Mas is not growing. Look at how many steel orchestras are presenting to the competition now, and the sizes of these bands, we cannot deny Vincy Mas is a wonderful product and expression of our Vincy culture,” said Ambrose.

The CDC Chair said that the performances by numerous artistes, local and international were nothing short of phenomenal and to him, “this was truly Carnival at its best.”

In relation to the various sponsors, Ambrose noted that they received tremendous support from the hundreds of people who bought their products and showed their support in a number of ways.

“We congratulate all our winners in the various competitions. We congratulate the general public for maintaining the peace and did what Vincy Mas is about, just to have a great fun time,” said Ambrose.(LC)