Blondie Bird camp elated with Hat-trick

The winning formula at the Blondie Bird and Friends mas camp has is dedication, commitment, expertise and cooperation among other things.

The veteran mas men of Blondie Bird and Friends won their eight Winston “Samo” Samuel Band of Year title on Mardi Gras day, Tuesday, July 8, 2025 with their portrayal “Carnival Icons”.

They placed third and fourth in the Individuals 5 to 9 category; first in the Individuals 10 to 15 category; second in the Junior King of Carnival; third in the Best Junior Section of competition; and second in the Junior Band of the Year competition. They were third in the Uptown Competition; second in the Sections of the Band category; and second in the King of the Band competition.

On Thursday, July 10, 2025, in bliss, band leaders Garth Niles and Elroy “Blondie Bird” Boyd said they were elated about their win.

Niles pointed out to SEARCHLIGHT that this year’s win marks a hat-trick and that one of their veteran designers, Ozzie Constance, now has 16 Band of the Year wins, eight with them, and eight with Nelson Bloc.

“We feel great we won a hat-trick. It’s a great feeling and this is our second hat-trick. Very few bands have done this,” Niles said, while thanking the 300 adults and 110 children who played mas with them this year.

He said he is also proud of the Queen of the Bands. The queen’s costume called “Spectrum”, was designed by Niles and built by Osborne Browne and Ozzie Constance.

Niles noted that the band’s 2025 production, “Tribute to Carnival Icons”, featured Lennox ‘Becks’ Gonsalves; Roy ‘Dragon’ Ralph; Eddison ‘Sheggy’ John; Walter ‘Tannie’ Peters; Alston ‘Becket’ Cyrus; Selwyn ‘Fuzzy’ Knights; Julian ‘Pilling’ Pollard; and Lennox ‘Scully’ Hunt. They scored 351 points.

“We are like a family band, tight knitted, so I think it’s the closeness we share and the fact that we understand each other, work as a team and are coordinated and we know each other’s roles why we have managed to take eight Band of the Year titles,” Niles said.

In second place in this year’s Winston “Samo” Samuel Band of Year competition was Lynx Mas Band with a production ‘Riddles’ that scored 345 points; while Mirage Production with ‘Melange – The Art of Colour’ placed third with 336 points. Fourth was SVG Players International Mas band with their production ‘A tribute to David Julian ‘Pilling Pollard’; they amassed 335 points.