St. Lucia Carnival

By: Darby Etienne

Carnaval Time Again!! By: Darby Etienne

Once again it’s Carnival time, where all the cultural splendour is on parade. The Calypsonians start off with songs, their rendition of social commentary letting the public know through lyrical composition along with alcohol consumption what has been going on in the country for the past year. Continuous nights of performances with artists from various tents all battling for the covet titles. Joined at the events is a crowd looking for anything to laugh-at from stage jokes, some band pranks, and artists forgetting lyrics whilst singing including the well known “tents-pin-ears” who gather at the front to heckle the singers as they grace the stage and also to the amusement of the rest of the audience. Each tent then holds a quarter finals where the top rated artists are chosen for the semi finals. Happening all at the same time is the making of the costumes by the designers; who work out of derelict warehouses, old factory shells and even electric power stations, just for the space and area to hang out the costumes for the attraction of the revellers visiting their Mas Camp, to try on their costumes and visualise the image of the collective beauty. Long nights of cutting fabrics and spongy materials, glues sticking and twisting thin wires into all kinds of shapely images portraying this year’s depicting theme.

The atmosphere of anxiety starts to creep in the population, with the constant augments about who is more talented than the other, the song that makes more sense: who has better lyrics, who has smutty lyrics and the tension of the most sensitive order of the day: the political commentary. The furious debates lead to loss of friendship even amongst family and loved ones all the way to first; the finals of the Soca Monarch competition: which engulfs most of the young people as it brings with it, fast rhythms mixed with gyrating and whining, onto the slow smooth romantic setting of the Groovy Soca competition: when the artists with the Barry White and Alisha Keys voices come out. However, the grand moment is the Calypso Monarch Finals where people of varied ages gets involved as it is the longest running competition and the most financially rewarding. The picture of the beauty queens then starts to surface; those from the various communities around the island with the unusual earlier community carnivals in progress prior to the main event in the Capital. The main event starts with the Beauty Pageant which normally follows the King and Queen of the Bands competition. The head of the Mas Band normally displays big, bright and distinctive costumes as they seek to be winners of the King and Queen of the Bands, on the other hand the beauty pageant or the Queen Show as it is called goes through a host of cultural categories so that a winner can be chosen. The night runs into the most anticipated part of the festival, where every man and woman misbehaves from the start into the early hours of the morning; well known as J’ouvert, which is a kwéyòle term for the crack of dawn.

This is Sunday into Monday where the more official functionality of the Carnival is showcased. The parade of the bands, with all the hundreds of revelers lining the streets dancing to the music of the day, all in order to be judged according to their portrayal themes or costumes, whether they march up together... and at the same time a count of the number of times that the songs are played repeatedly in order to choose the song title of the road: called the “Road March”. The Monday ends with parties held by each Mas Camp where partying and dancing to the famous and most loved songs of the season plays. Last Lap is the Tuesday where the day starts with the same procession, lining up on the streets, dancing and whining to the music in proper order but culminating the inclusion of non-costume revellers all jumping together as the night folds slowly ending the Carnival for the year.

Once again it’s Carnival time, where all the cultural splendour is on parade. The Calypsonians start off with songs, their rendition of social commentary letting the public know through lyrical composition along with alcohol consumption what has been going on in the country for the past year. Continuous nights of performances with artists from various tents all battling for the covet titles. Joined at the events is a crowd looking for anything to laugh-at from stage jokes, some band pranks, and artists forgetting lyrics whilst singing including the well known “tents-pin-ears” who gather at the front to heckle the singers as they grace the stage and also to the amusement of the rest of the audience. Each tent then holds a quarter finals where the top rated artists are chosen for the semi finals. Happening all at the same time is the making of the costumes by the designers; who work out of derelict warehouses, old factory shells and even electric power stations, just for the space and area to hang out the costumes for the attraction of the revellers visiting their Mas Camp, to try on their costumes and visualise the image of the collective beauty. Long nights of cutting fabrics and spongy materials, glues sticking and twisting thin wires into all kinds of shapely images portraying this year’s depicting theme.

The atmosphere of anxiety starts to creep in the population, with the constant augments about who is more talented than the other, the song that makes more sense: who has better lyrics, who has smutty lyrics and the tension of the most sensitive order of the day: the political commentary. The furious debates lead to loss of friendship even amongst family and loved ones all the way to first; the finals of the Soca Monarch competition: which engulfs most of the young people as it brings with it, fast rhythms mixed with gyrating and whining, onto the slow smooth romantic setting of the Groovy Soca competition: when the artists with the Barry White and Alisha Keys voices come out. However, the grand moment is the Calypso Monarch Finals where people of varied ages gets involved as it is the longest running competition and the most financially rewarding. The picture of the beauty queens then starts to surface; those from the various communities around the island with the unusual earlier community carnivals in progress prior to the main event in the Capital. The main event starts with the Beauty Pageant which normally follows the King and Queen of the Bands competition. The head of the Mas Band normally displays big, bright and distinctive costumes as they seek to be winners of the King and Queen of the Bands, on the other hand the beauty pageant or the Queen Show as it is called goes through a host of cultural categories so that a winner can be chosen. The night runs into the most anticipated part of the festival, where every man and woman misbehaves from the start into the early hours of the morning; well known as J’ouvert, which is a kwéyòle term for the crack of dawn.

This is Sunday into Monday where the more official functionality of the Carnival is showcased. The parade of the bands, with all the hundreds of revelers lining the streets dancing to the music of the day, all in order to be judged according to their portrayal themes or costumes, whether they march up together... and at the same time a count of the number of times that the songs are played repeatedly in order to choose the song title of the road: called the “Road March”. The Monday ends with parties held by each Mas Camp where partying and dancing to the famous and most loved songs of the season plays. Last Lap is the Tuesday where the day starts with the same procession, lining up on the streets, dancing and whining to the music in proper order but culminating the inclusion of non-costume revelers all jumping together as the night folds slowly ending the Carnival for the year.