The Hilton Miami Downtown is the perfect spot for the parade, I simply walked like two minutes after exiting the hotel and came smack upon the parade. The hotel was also very close to the venue for Vale Vibe Fete and Blocko and many masqueraders were staying there. It is a decent hotel, if you get it for a great price even better.
My first thought when I decided on Miami was that I would play mas and experience what it is like, that desire changed later on and I decided to be a spectator yesterday which is not an experience for me no matter what country! I simply cannot spectate when I would rather be playing, looking at mas is so much different than participating in it.
The weather was beautiful, when I finally got on the way at 2PM; gorgeous, sunny HOT day. It was HOT, hotter than Trinidad on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. So HOT some masqueraders fell ill. Initially we started looking out for my friend's band, Generation X, her section was Eye Candy (yes THAT section). I kept getting messages from her that they were yet to leave but I knew that the masqueraders were assembled since 10:30AM and after taking in the costumes on the road we headed for the park at Biscayne thinking Generation X were on their way there. Well, what I learned later was that Generation X chose position number 34 to allow more time on the road for their masqueraders, which worked because they did not cross the stage until 10:10PM!! Worse yet is that Eye Candy ladies were told to walk with heels to cross the stage, somehow the message got mixed that the stage was pretty close so some of them wore heels for up to 3 hours, like my friend, because their change of shoe was located in the park!
As for the park, it is like a huge outdoor area that was $20.00 to enter, you could not walk in with water which you were later charged $3.00 for! Someone got a bright idea to make a killing yesterday as the water was the most precious commodity in that heat. Too bad that "someone" was not smart enough to notice the spelling on this sign:
I did not like the set up of the stage or the stands as where they were located the music trucks accompanying the bands essentially blocked your view of the masqueraders when they got to the stage. And the stage was miniscule, but at least they had one and masqueraders played with vicious abandon when they finally got to the stage; how well do I know that feeling! Triniscene carried the parade live until 6PM which was pretty cool if you were not there.
To make a long story short, my entire day (eight hours) was spent at the park as I had to see my friend in Generation X, and they were the last band to make it into the park before the six o clock deadline, though it would be four more hours before they eventually crossed the stage.
look the wee wee truck!
My impression of Miami Carnival is that of a much, much,much, smaller Trinidad Carnival experience with the weather and even some of the more elaborate costumes. The all inclusive bands had wee wee trucks, medic vans and served lunches on the road just as they do for Trinidad Carnival. I also liked that for the most part there were actual costumed bands, I think I saw just one T Shirt band and most of the bands seemed to have a Trinidad origin.
What I found so humorous was that I asked masqueraders what band they were in and only about 10% of the ones I asked actually knew the name of the band! I was happy to see ladies were in their boots and decorated sneakers (with some matching sandals thrown in) and were totally on point with the makeup as well. The masqueraders looked great and looked like they were having LOTS of fun too.
For lots more photos of Miami Carnival click on the picture below:
5 comments:
So PEPS basically yuh saying i eh miss nuttin den!
I was in Back 2 Basics/ Natural Freaks band and we were the next big band behind Generation X, so they probably gave an extension or something. Cause we also got to cross the stage. We crossed the stage about 11pm.
I appreciated the setup they called a stage, cause its been YEARS that I actually crossed one. Trinidad, New York, DC NO ONE has an actual stage set up for their masqueraders anymore :-(
Well, a stage is anything, short or long, elevated 3 ft+ off the ground ;) At least, they had one. Trinidad, WE WANT AH STAGE!!!!
And who is da women, with tot-tots in d road? Gosh, not readi for prime time Rio, she en care?
Costumes for all the Trini style regionals are still not close to the quality and presentation of Port of Spain, or even San Fernando (and that's keeping in mind, I still want MORE improvements for T&T). Miami seems to have settled on a unified "permanent" parade route. Now it is only to grow, and get better and better to really keep "the best in the States" (including fetes and other supporting events.)
That last pic is from a section in Trini Revellers' Viva Mexico, this band seems to have bought out all the leftovers from that section. So much for crativity...is only Resurection of past T&T mas I saw.
I too stayed at the Hilton Downtown and its the best as far as location to the parade and ValeVibe (which was the BEST party I went to for Miami Carnival). I played with Natural Freaks and as Carnivalbaby said we crossed the stage at 11:30pm which don't even be done in Trinidad. The only problem was the heat...OMG it was a scorcher this year. So much so that, I reached to the parade at about 1:30pm and by 5pm when the band passed in front the hotel, I left the band went to my room ordered room service, showered, changed (as I played in a mud band) and came back out as the band was entering the park. I felt refreshed for Part II of the jump-up when the sun went down. I will always rate Miami Carnival #2 right after Trinidad as far as vibes...now let's see if they stick with the 12 hour parade like this year. Somehow I doubt it though cause the city is sure to complain about all that police overtime they had to pay out hehehe.
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