CDC to showcase building blocks of Vincy Mas as part of 40th anniversary celebration

Over the 40 years that Vincy Mas has been around, the festival has grown, matured and embedded itself as one of the mega-events on the Caribbean calendar.

That is the opinion of former chair of the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) Dennis Ambrose, who voiced his opinion last Tuesday evening at the Cruise Ship and Ferry Berth during the media launch of Vincy Mas 2017.

Ambrose, who is a special advisor to CDC on its 40th anniversary celebration, said that 40 years is worth celebrating and that credit must be given to the components and the many persons who have made tremendous impact on the growth and development of the nation’s premier festival.

During the period of the 40th anniversary of Vincy Mas, the CDC will try to showcase, as part of the celebration, as many of the historical and transitional performances, which became the building blocks of the Vincy Mas we know today.

According to Ambrose, these special events will be decentralized and will take place on the Leeward and Windward sides of the mainland and in the Grenadines.

The months leading up to Vincy Mas 2017 (June 30 to July 11) will see celebrations pertaining to specific 10-year spans.

The event for the first decade will be held on Saturday, February 18 and is scheduled to take place on the Leeward side. The exact venue will be released at a later date.

According to Ambrose, the calendar of events for the first decade (1977 to 1987) seeks to take persons back in time with a show called the “All Star Show”. This show was pioneered by Granville Straker and on this occasion, the CDC will showcase as many of the artistes whose music and performances made an indelible impression on the Carnival culture at that time.

For the second decade (1987 to 1997), the foot-print for this period was the “Clash of the Bands,” pioneered by the late Glen Jackson. Ambrose said it is hoped that there will be performances from memorable bands, such as Touch, Blacksand, X-Adus and the steel band with the most champion wins during that period of time will be a major feature. This will be held on March 18 on the Windward side of the island, at a venue still to be announced.

To mark the third decade (1997 to 2007), the CDC will team up in April with the Union Island Easterval organizers to have an event that is intertwined with the activities of the Easterval programme.

“We know that Union Island usually has a high visitorship during the Easter season, and so we will partner with them for the special celebration of our national cultural festival,” explained Ambrose, who added that all events will see a mas component sharing the programme to expose their designs and concepts for Vincy Mas 2017.

These pre-events lead up to the launching of Vincy Mas 2017 on Saturday, May 6.

“In the past, our launching has been sensational, and for this 40th anniversary, we will showcase everything that is Vincy Mas and that includes mas band presentations at their best, pan at its ultimate, calypso and soca at high pulse, pageantry at its supreme… you simply cannot miss this,” said Ambrose on Tuesday night.

“The CDC anticipates that 2017 will be a landmark year for our greatest national cultural festival and all the stakeholders are working diligently on this project.”(LC)