D Krewe's Letter

So, checking D Krewe's website I noticed this open letter to their masqueraders posted:

Dear D Krewe Masquerader,

Carnival 2008 is over and while some of us are still experiencing “withdrawal symptoms” others have simply picked up where they left off.

D Krewe’s 2008 presentation “Love Is” is now no more than a memory, pleasant for some and not so pleasant for others. To say that the season was way too short is an understatement, especially for those of us with direct involvement in the planning and production of our first ever band.

Let me begin by saying thank you to all those who contributed to making “Love Is” happen, particularly those masqueraders who showed their concern and provided support and encouragement to us, you are truly what love is.

As an organisation, we have to admit that we experienced some problems, which inconvenienced our masqueraders. While we delivered in most areas there were some critical areas we identified for serious improvement, the major one being the inability of some of our key suppliers to deliver on time, for this, we would like to sincerely apologise to you again.

We thought our distribution system worked fairly well in terms of the time between final payment and collection. To counteract this however, because of the problem identified above, several sections were not ready on time and either there were no costumes or partial costumes to distribute. To compound the problem, several of our section leaders lacked the skill necessary to provide the level of customer service required in the situation. For this we sincerely apologise.

Let me state for the record, that all requests for refunds were honoured on the spot. In the face of this also were the masqueraders who refused to accept refunds and waited or collected their costumes as late as Carnival Tuesday. To these masqueraders for your patience and understanding we thank you.

Then there was the situation where some of our masqueraders did not get lunch on Carnival Tuesday. Again we had the facilities well laid out, arrived in good time for the meal and lo and behold some very selfish masqueraders took the opportunity to grab as much as they could demonstrating some very “selfish love”, to them we wish to say shame on you. To those who were disenfranchised we wish to say sorry and forgive them. Even when we replenished the lunches the feeding frenzy continued.

The experience on the road was wonderful and we were generally able to visit all judging venues easily, with the exception of a minor incident where Neal and Massy Trinidad All Stars cut across us, and delayed our downtown party. When we eventually crossed the stage however, as late as seven o’ clock in the evening we had a very large band enjoying themselves thoroughly with the music provided.

All in all D Krewe was able to present its first Carnival Band and for this we are grateful to you our masqueraders. As an organization we now have to sit down and plan for Carnival 2009 and to help us with that plan, below we are sharing how we “scored” ourselves with our first project.

Category	Rank	Remedial Measures
Costume quality	Fair	Source better suppliers Change suppliers Change producers Stricter quality control
Distribution	Good	Seek to improve final payment to collection paper trail. Improve collection of ID bands
Customer Service	Poor	Review section leaders and sever relationships if necessary Train key personnel
Lunch	Poor	Introduce lunch and snack chit bands
Bar	Good	Review and make necessary adjustments.

The above are our perception, should you have any other area/s for improvement you wish to highlight, please feel free to call or e-mail us, we welcome your comments.

We thank you once again for your support for 2008, with the hope that we can get it so right next year that the only tears you will cry are around 6 o’clock on Carnival Tuesday 2009 when you realize that the Carnival is coming to an end and you would have to wait another whole year before you can experience “Loving the Mas” with D Krewe.

Yours sincerely

Roland St. George

While I think admitting their short comings is commendable I do not understand the system for "scoring" themselves , it is a bit presumptuous, don't you think? Anyway they have opened the floor to masqueraders to respond so here is hoping those of you who had issues will let them know so!

Vincy Mas Costume Update

The official Vincy Mas website has been updated with costumes from three mas bands, albeit it looks as if more are still to be revealed. Check out the full galleries by clicking on the photos below for each presentation, which will take you to their homepage:

Digicel Nelson Bloc –“Shanghai Nights"

High Voltage Mas – “Myths and Legends of Egypt”

Owen Ralph and the Professionals

Blondie Bird and Friends - "Party in Space"

Special section by De Revellers

As for how these sketches match up to the real thing, compare this section, Scorpion Fish from
SVG Players for Vincy Mas 2007:

Scorpion Fish Drawing


Scorpion Fish on the road

Not too bad a representation from sketch to reality; I also have to note that some of the costume prices are as little as $50.00US!!!! At least the prices are not HOT in what is billed as "The Hottest Carnival in the Caribbean".

Solid International Band Launch Photos

The following are photographs from Solid International's Band Launch at The Coast Night Club, Antigua. The Antigua presentation for Solid's second year is entitled "Enchanted Paradise". More photos can be seen at http://www.coast.ag.

The Saga of Free Will and the Carnival Castro.......

A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with a young lady who lamented what Carnival today has become; according to her Carnival is now a class divided festival celebrating bikini and bead mas, an elitist street party with bands creating a sheep mentality among their followers who would pay anything to be part of the exclusive crowd a commercial venture that operates for profit rather than the preservation of culture. This person was as passionate in their dislike for Carnival as I am in my love of it, so that led me to ask the question when she said what is taking place today is not Carnival, what IS Carnival? Her response, Carnival is a reflection of society!

Now, taking that synopsis of what Carnival meant to her, well what she elaborated on that night, I challenged her to tell me that Carnival today is not a reflection of Trinidad’s society; the division among classes in where they chose to live and socialize, business men gouging out the eyes of consumers everywhere and patrons lining up for hours outside Zen hoping to be picked to get in. Whether this is right or wrong, if Carnival is supposed to be reflection of society, I think it is on the mark.

I invited the young lady to express her feelings on the blog, since as I said before she was quite passionate about the subject, and to date she has not favored me with the article I requested. However I was told she went on to express her feelings further and said that we masqueraders are not only accepting mediocrity “eating shit wholesale” (shit masked by glitter, but still smelling of shit) but we have grown to accept and see nothing wrong with the “lack of creativity and repetitious design” in mas today. To her Carnival is also a celebration of life, a celebration of creative effort, livable wearable art and she thinks if WE say we love Carnival we should not be facilitating it’s “decline”.

And, as a consequence bikini mas should be no more, since there was a time it did not exist, but it won’t since it is an excuse to show off the hours spent on the body in the gym. The excuses we use to justify the bullshit of Carnival is all because we are in denial, and should want to say “stop” and reflect on how we can change the “downhill slide of this festival we call Carnival”.

Well, after ingesting all of this, this persons ideology of what Carnival means to them, I said to myself but Saucy that is NOT what Carnival means to you, and like anything in life we should all have the freedom to express ourselves and opinions about something we love, which might be for a different reason than another person's without being told we are fools for doing just that. I find it insulting that someone would seek to tell me that I am buying shit wholesale because I am in denial. I am not in denial; the way I celebrate my Carnival, Carnival that I do love, is as individual as the way I choose to express my religious and political beliefs.

First of Carnival to me does not hold such a deep symbolic meaning about life, sorry to say. It is not MY definition that it is a livable wearable art celebrating life, that is someone else's definition that I am by no means bound to subscribe to. For ME Carnival is about the pageantry, from the first time I wore a costume at 5 years old and seeing my mother in her pretty costumes year after year, it has always been about getting dolled up and parading myself on the streets. Maybe it is hinged on me being a vainglorious exhibitionist, but I love the glitter, the bikini and the beads and I would be dammed if someone tells me I am wrong for doing so!

I do not judge people who choose to play in yards of fabric, so why should I be judged for wanting to play in little, fact is it is MY choice and people should learn to respect that. If I choose to spend my money, knowing full well that the cost does not equate to the tangible product that I am getting, don’t think I am not making an informed choice. I pay for the experience of mas, and that includes the band I choose to support for whatever reason I choose to play there. When the price reaches beyond my grasp I will seek another band that I can not only afford but that affords me the chance to play my mas to my liking. As I had said before TRIBE and Island People are only TWO bands, critics complain about their prices, but there were so many other cheaper bands. Tell me who played with We International, or Image Nation or Trini Revellers or Trevor Wallace, all bands where one could find a reasonably priced costume?

At the end of the day, my Carnival utopia would be that everyone finds a band to play them self however they chose to do so. It could be a bikini and beads band, a traditional mas band such as Sailor or Indian, Blue Devils or an artistic impressions the likes of Minshall and Mc Farlane. Reality is that there must be balance, we cannot eliminate bikini and beads just because so called Carnival purists dislike it, what they should focus on doing is encouraging more and more bandleaders to bring bands that THEY want to be a part of giving masqueraders more choice. If they build it, they will come, so instead of focusing on tearing down people who support and enjoy bikini mas, how about developing YOUR expression of mas and we all live harmoniously together?

When the emancipated slaves came to a head with the Colonialist and police during the Canboulay riots they were defending the rights of a FREE people to develop their culture in the manner they chose without subscribing to any societal diktat. I can only hope that the Carnival Castros could see that having one vision of what Carnival should be for everyone is not freedom of choice, it is a dictatorship. There should be a respect and understanding that each masquerader dons a costume for so many diverse reasons, none of which can be “wrong”; playing mas is a personal act and however one chooses to express it, they are right to do so once they are not breaking any laws!

The time has come for those who think that Carnival today is not to their liking to do something about it, instead of all the verbiage. I do appreciate the Minshals, the Mc Farlanes and even what Oracle will have in store for 2009 and wish we can see more of that type of mas on the road. But, I will be in my feathers, baubles and bikini costume come Carnival Monday and Tuesday the beauty being that is MY choice to do so; long live free will!

Borough Day is Heating up

EVENTS CALENDER:
Thursday May 1st
"Pan For Blue" Coronation Park 10:00 a.m.

Prisons Service Band Concert Thursday Victor Chin Kit Park 5:00 p.m.

Vintage Calypso & Rumshop Lime Corner Bryce Road & Wickham Street 7:00 p.m.

Friday May 2nd
Youth Fest (to be confirmed) Coronation Park 12 noon

"We Meet" Streets of Point Fortin 5:00 p.m.

Police Service Band Concert Victor Chin Kit Park 6:00 p.m.

Saturday May 3rd
J'ouvert Saturday 3rd May Streets of Point Fortin 4:00 a.m.

Traditional Mas'/ Contemporary Mas'/ Single Pan Bands/ Streets of Point Fortin 3:00 p.m.

Pan-on-the-Move Streets of Point Fortin 5:00 p.m.

Sunday May 4th
Dragon Boat Race Clifton Hill Beach 10:00 a.m.

Lake Asphalt Bedrock II All-Inclusive Fete Lake Asphalt Admin Grounds 3:00pm - 11:00pm.

J'OUVERT BANDS

Royalty's "Beach Party"




Radical Promotions "Red"

Bachanal Mas New Launch Date

PLEASE NOTE OUR LAUNCH WAS DUE TO TAKE PLACE ON THE 12TH APRIL AT THE LIVERY HAS NOW BEEN POSPONED DUE TO THE VENUE BEEN DOUBLE BOOKED WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE AND THE PROMOTER PULLING OUT SEEING OUR EVENT AS LESS IMPORTANT I WONDER WHY???

ANYWAY WE HAVE BEEN WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK LOOKING FOR AN ALTERANTIVE VENUE WHICH WE HAVE NOW FOUND BUT MEANING WE WILL HAVE TO LAUNCH A WEEK LATER THAN PLANNED TO FACILITATE RE ADVERTISING.

THE NEW DATE AND VENUE FOR THE LAUNCH! 19TH APRIL @ THE PUZZLE, 94-98 MIDDLESEX ST OPPOSITE LIVERPOOL ST STATION

WE HOPE EVERYONE IS READY TO PARTY CARNIVAL STYLEEEE AND CHOOSE THIER COSTUME WITH LONDONS NEWEST SEXIEST MOST EXCITING BAND.

WE HOPE EVERYONE IS READY TO PARTY CARNIVAL STYLEEEE AND CHOOSE THIER COSTUME WITH LONDONS NEWEST SEXIEST MOST EXCITING BAND.

BACHANAL MAS

LIVE COSTUME SHOW STARTS AT 11:30PM SHARP!!!!!

LIVE COSTUME SHOW STARTS AT 11:30PM SHARP!!!!!

Rio Carnival 2008

I was able to get my hands on a Brazilian Carnival Magazine called "Manchete", albeit it is written in Portuguese, the images of Rio's Carnival needed no translation. Since I have been following the progression of Rio's Carnival as I am on the mailing list for email updates and looked at many of the costume options when they became available in December, the final production was very interesting to see. The scale of the parade in the sambadromo is overwhelming, and so organized that you can truly see the beauty of the floats and heavily detailed, ornate costuming.

It was nice to see photographs of the kids on parade, since I cannot recall ever seeing children participating in the Carnival. Of course the magazine was also filled with many bare breasted and almost naked Samba girls, who have upped the ante on costuming. If anyone wants to say Trinidad copies Rio, I think we are years behind when it comes to the detail, material and skimpiness of their costumes, in addition I do think that our "bikini and beads" are still different in design, though some do ape Rio, take Kingfisher and Lady of the Lake frontline costumes for instance, I saw nothing resembling those costumes in Rio Mas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy some shots from the magazine and for a link to more Rio Carnival photos you can check here. (thanks DeeDeeBee!)

Kids on Parade




Young Samba Girl!


Floats

Solid International Launch

Antigua Carnival saw a new band last year, Solid International, this year they launch their second Carnivall Presentation "Enchanted Paradise" on April 5th 2008; click on the flyer below for details. If you are interested in seeing Solid Internationals costumes from Antigua Carnival 2007, visit their website, albeit it has not been updated for 2008 as yet.

Carnival Mecca SOLD OUT!!

Due to the overwhelming response, Carnival Mecca is sold out, along with copies of the Santa Claus Times, Easter Bunny Review and Toothfairy Chronicles!!! Outlets reported the best April Fool's sale EVER!!! Thanks for all your support, and comments, however I regret to say that Carnival Mecca will no longer be in publication so I am out of an Assistant Editor position! That's what you get when you publish a magazine cover on April Fools Day.. LOL.

Carnival Mecca

There is a new magazine in town and I am happy to announce that it is all about my favourite topic AND that yours truly got hired as Assistant Editor! Basically the focus is on all things Carnival, very much like this blog, with monthly publications giving you readers the scoop and behind the scenes information on all that is Carnival, both locally and internationally. The best part of all this is that I am officially getting paid to "macco", travel to International Carnivals (next up D.C. Carnival) and I get to keep this blog running and share with you all the information I am privileged to know.

For now, Carnival Mecca is only available locally and is on shelves this month at all local bookstores and HiLo Supermarkets so go and get your copy today! Plans are in the works for international distribution and I will keep you all informed on when this takes place as well as when the website is launched.

click on photo for larger view

Guess the name ..............

Ok, we know the theme for TRIBE is "birds" and I have a feeling that that some of you already know the name of the presentation, so let me get your best guess for what the name of the band will be; for the record I like "Birds of Paradise" which was a suggestion left on another post.

While we are at it how about guessing some section names too!? Here is my FIRST guess of a section :

Since I am also guessing that the birds may be all species found in Trinidad, here are my other picks for section names:

Kiskadee
GreenHeron
Oilbird
Hummingbird
Jacamar
Mot Mot
Blue Tanger

Don't forget to leave your guesses/suggestions as a comment! TRIBE is being uber-secretive about their 2009 presentation, though I have heard prototypes are in the works already!

It's a Global Thing..

Links to Carnivals around the world!

Latin America
• Argentina Gualeguaychu Carinval
• Belize Carnival
• Belize San Pedro International Costa Maya Festival
• Bolivia Carnaval Info
• Bolivia Carnaval
• Brazil Rio Carnival
• Brazil Rio Carnival
• Brazil Rio Carnival
• Brazil Salvador de Bahia Carnival
• Colombia Barranquilla Carnaval
• Colombia Barranquilla Carnaval
• Dominican Republic Carnival
• Mexico Karneval
• Mexico Cozumel Carnaval
• Mexico Cozumel Carnaval
• Mexico Mazatlan Carnaval
• Mexico VeraCruz Carnaval
• Panama Carnival
• Peru Carnival in Juliaca
• Venezuela Carnaval

Asia/Pacific
• Australia Adelaide Carnevale
• Australia Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
• Australia Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers
• China Taipei Lantern Festival
• India Goa Carnival
• India Pakistan Nature Carnival
• Japan Asakusa Samba Carnival
• Philippines Cebu Sinulog Festival
• Turkey Istanbul Carnival

Europe
• Belgium Aalst Carnival
• Belgium Binche Carnaval
• Belgium Carnaval of Blancs Moussis
• Belgium Carnaval of Blancs Moussis
• Buglaria Pernik Surva International Festival Masquerade
• Denmark Aalborg Carnival
• Denmark Carnival in Copenhagen
• Finland Helsinki Samba Carnival
• France Carnaval de Dunkerque
• France Carnaval de Dunkerque
• France Nice Carnaval
• Germany Berlin Karneval
• Germany Kolner Karneval
• Greece Patras Carnival
• Holland Maastricht Carnival
• Holland Maastricht Carnival
• Holland Zomer Carnaval
• Italy Carneval di Foiano
• Italy Carneval di Servola
• Italy Carneval di Vercelli
• Italy Carnevale a Verona
• Italy Malta Carnival
• Italy Malta Cicco Carnival
• Italy Nadur Carnival
• Italy Venice Carnival
• Italy Venice Carnival
• Portugal Carneval de Estarreja
• Portugal Carneval de Ovar
• Portugal Carnival de Loule
• Spain Carnaval de Aguilas
• Spain Carnaval de Cartagena
• Spain Carnaval de Ceuta
• Spain Carnaval de Chipiona
• Spain Carnaval de Malaga
• Spain Carnaval de Sitges
• Spain Carneval de Cadiz
• Spain Carneval de Cadiz
• Spain Carnival Tarragona
• Switzerland Carnaval de Lausanne du
• Switzerland Carnaval du Jura
• UK Devizes Carnival
• UK Hastings Carnival
• UK Herne Bay Carnival
• UK Liverpool International Street Festival
• UK Luton Carnival
• UK Notting Carnival
• UK Notting Hill Carnival
• UK Notting Hill Carnival

International Mas Workshop

April 21 - 27, 2008
University of Alberta

Cariwest has pledged to place Edmonton on the festival map by producing the biggest and best Downtown parade possible, and invites you to participate in one of three 2-day workshops.

Learn the art and process of making fabulous large costumes; train with international designers flown in from Trinidad & Tobago (the home of our Edmonton-style arts festival). Create your own designs/costumes of 'kings and queens' for the August Cariwest parade. Registration is open to the public; artists, community leagues, students of art, design, street theatre and construction are welcome.

Enthusiasts may elect to stay from Monday, April 21st to Saturday, April 27th for continuous construction.

Registration fee: $20.00/workshop
Contribution of $10.00 for lunch

For registration, contact Cariwest at cariwest@shaw.ca. Phone: (780) 421-7800

Need to Vent…

So, as I told you guys yesterday I am thinking of going to a regional or international Carnival and Crop Over was on the list. As I usually do when preparing for any trip the research starts early, therefore I have been emailing hotels for rates. Lo and behold I got a response from 2 of the 4 hotels I emailed so far and they BOTH told me that they have a minimum number of nights necessary for booking a hotel; one hotel said 10 nights and the other TWO weeks!!!

Now, I have been to Crop Over before and 5 to 6 nights, to me, is more than adequate to enjoy the fetes, beaches and Kadooment, especially when just taking a few days off from work to make the trip. Since when does it necessitate 10 days to 2 weeks to enjoy Crop Over??? Even hotels in Trinidad, where admittedly we have much more events leading up to Carnival, the minimum hotels’ nights stay during that period is from 5 to 7 nights!!

I think the hotels in Barbados are being quite fresh, thankfully there are still others that are accepting bookings for “only” 5 nights! I have to say if you are looking for accommodation for Crop Over the time to start looking AND booking is NOW. I can no longer recommend some of my favorites due to the silly policy of booking up to TWO Weeks! But you can check out these:

Anthurium Suites
Southern Heights
Melrose Beach Apartments
Intimate Hotels
Butterfly Beach Hotel
Sea-Breeze Hotel
Coral Mist
Accra Beach Hotel

D.C. Carnival ...will you be there?

This year D.C. Carnival takes place on June 28th, with a number of pre carnival fetes that are a staple of the Carnival taking place a few days before the main parade. There promises to be a strong representation of bloggers at D.C. Carnival 2008, the count thus far is a tentative 12 persons, and even I am thinking of making the trip to check out what an international Carnival is like. Albeit, I have been to other Caribbean Carnivals (St Lucia and Crop Over) I am yet to experience a Carnival in the U.S. and I have been told that D.C. is a nice mix of fetes and road experience; "they" told me that for Miami Carnival the road is boring but the fetes are great and N.Y. the vibe is not nice at all. D.C., "they said" is nice and mellow and the pre-fetes are great! Mud, I was told is where it is all at for the parade as the costume bands do not offer much in the way of costumes. I was told the fetes to be at are TRIBE's Ignite on June 26th, Taboo on June 27th and Machel on June 28th.

The lead up to D.C. Carnival kicks off next month as both Basement Knok'ers presenting "Mas for all Seasons" and We Fete Inc. presenting "Global Warming" will hold their band launch on April 19th.

I.C.E. Carnival has already premiered costumes from their 2008 Carnival presentation "When East Meets West"; you will remember they had sketches of their costumes out for viewing and which I wrote about here.

And these are the actual costumes:

Panisha Mas is another D.C. mas band that seems to have launched over the Easter weekend, their 2008 presentation is "A Brazilian Dream" and costumes photos will be up on the website soon, as per their notice. For mud mas the choices are between Rascalz and Garage Boyz, though both are yet to update their websites.

As for fetes, apart from Ignite and Taboo, there is the Carib United Fete which takes place on June 21st, Bunji &Faye Ann on June 27th and the Breakfast Party on June 29th.

So as I weigh the pros and cons of D.C. Carnival (it is being weighed against Crop Over and Miami at this point) ,I would love to hear from all of you who have been or are planning to go to D.C. Carnival and what YOU think/thought about the whole experience. Feel free to compare to other Carnivals that you have been to and do as well as give advice as to if you think it is worth the trip. I have a plane ticket on hold and need to make a decision as soon as possible!

Just another day at work...

Look who walked into my office this morning!!!

New Band for Caribana!

The Phoenix rises on May 18th, click on the following images for more information on this new band for Caribana 2008:

2009 Carnival Presentations

* Brian Mac Farlane — Africa
* Ronnie & Caro — Bakkanal
* Island People Mas — Heaven & Earth
* Trini Revellers — Sweet TnT...Tribute to T&T
* Genesis — Glitz & Glamour of Vegas
* Legacy — Shanghai Dream
* D’Krewe — Iere
* Masquerade — Let the Music Play
* We People International — Paradisio
*Pulse 8 - Hot, Hot, Hot!

Bush Lily Wins Toronto Revellers Contest

Despite all our voting and the drama that ensued yesterday when the polls were closed early due to alleged "cheating" Bush Lily beat African Coral by 45 votes!!! Congratulations to the winner, though I was and still am rooting for African Coral which I think is a very nice name for a section.

Anyway, I see Toronto Revellers has no hard feelings over the ideas to circumvent the non rules of the contest and will be holding another one in future. So, I think it would do them well to actually put up OFFICIAL rules for the contest so that voters will know 1) they can only vote once a day b) when the actual voting starts and ends and c)that one could have actually voted every day!. Apparently there were some rules regarding the contest but they must have been taken down because I searched the site and found none! Finally, it might be an idea to have potential voters register as a member before they can vote, thus preventing the multiple votes that THEY considered cheating!

African Coral will always be a winner to me, congrats Kara for second place!

VOTE!! VOTE!!! VOTE!!

After a marathon voting session last night, thinking the polls closed at midnight, African Coral has FINALLY regained the lead! The caveat is the polls are still open so we need to vote, and vote, and vote ....rouse your friends, co-workers,family members and tell them their vote is needed!!! Go to THIS LINK and vote for African Coral!! Thanks,on behalf of Karabana, to all of you who have voted so far.