After almost three months of waiting, the winners and participants in Vincy Mas 2016 have collected their prize money and trophies.

The various components received their hard-earned rewards on Thursday, October 6, during the Carnival Development Corporation’s (CDC) annual prize-giving ceremony, which was held at the Murray Heights Hotel, McKies Hill.{{more}}

Speaking during the ceremony, master of ceremonies and newly appointed head of the CDC’s Beauty Shows Committee Laferne Fraser said that the annual prize-giving ceremony seeks to reward the extensive effort, creativity and excellence of the artistes and various components of “the hottest Carnival”. She stressed that without the components, Vincy Mas will not be possible.

Among those collecting prizes were Best New Song competition calypso winner Cleo ‘Cleopatra’ Hendrickson; Miss SVG 2016 Nikianna Williams; Queen of the Bands Ateisha Lockhart; King of the Bands Jelani Niles; Ragga Soca King Chewalee Johnson; Soca Monarch Shane ‘Hypa 4000’ Husbands; Garth Niles of Band of the Year Blondie Bird and Friends; and Tilal Webb of Senior Panorama champs FLOW Sion Hill Euphonium Steel Orchestra.

Addressing the gathering, former chair of the CDC Dennis Ambrose, in his final speech as chair, described his tenure at the helm of the CDC as “bitter sweet”.

He said that he was proud of the achievements under his watch and that the CDC weathered the storms that occurred.

Ambrose noted, however, that while it has always been the aspiration of the CDC to pay prizes close to the conclusion of the festival, a number of entities made pledges that were not fulfilled in time, hence the late payments.

He stressed that prize money can only be paid when funds become available; while he also apologized for the late presentations, Ambrose said further that there were many challenges to overcome this year.

He thanked organizations like the National Lotteries Authority (NLA), while congratulating all the winners.

Also speaking was newly appointed chair of the CDC Ricardo Adams. He said that the previous board had taken Carnival to where it is and now that the baton has been passed, the new board is going to take it to another level.

Adams said that the new board recognizes that there are challenges and having recognized this, “we have the energy, vigour and focus to continue growing Vincy Mas.”

He said that while they cannot guarantee that all problems will be resolved immediately, the first thing is to look at the structure of the programme, the structure of shows and financing. He said that not only the quantum of the financing would be looked at, but also the timing.

The event was attended by, among others, Minister of Culture Cecil McKie, advisor to the CDC Lennox Bowman and former Minister of Culture René Baptiste.(LC)