14 days of Carnival
i would like to make some suggestions as it relates to our carnival, and things i think the government can do to improve the product.
SUBVENTIONS TO MAS BANDS
this is something i think the government has to take a serious look at, i know that some mas bands are going to knock me for this but i am of the opinion that this situation for bands waiting every year for hand outs has got to stop if indeed we are to go forward, the idea behind a subvention should be to help new bands get off the ground, there should be like a three year period where you can receive such funds with fixed creteria in order to receive them as well after three years if you cannot find a way to become self supportive then it is time for someone else to get a chance. for way to long i have watched the mas band assoc make no serious effort to raise monies on their own and i think unless a stance is made nothing will change.
ROUTE FOR PARADE
since the days of kirton being the chairman the idea of the parade being brought to the south has been discussed and to me i simply cannot understand why the government doesnt treat carnival as a business if it was to do this there can be no doubting that the parade in the south utilizing the morne rouge park will indeed be in the best interest of all. here is a simple senario of how things could work. first of all the entire morne rouge area can become a carnival village in the weeks leading up to carnival. my new carnival line up will go as follows
MONDAY NIGHT MAS
AUG 02(moving it to this night i believe will give our carnival product a unbelievable boost in terms of generating more income from all aspects. the traditional parade route can be maintained for this activety
SHOWCASING OF TRADIONAL CARNIVAL
AUG 03 in the carnival village in morne rouge, we can use tthis opportunity to showcase to all of our visitors and locals alike this aspect of the artform to keep the history alive.
PAN IN THE VILLAGE
AUG 04 for this i am thinking we can set up small portions of each pan side in different areas rigbht around the entire morne rouge area so families, and visitors can take a walk around the park taking in the beautiful sounds of pan as they go (these nightly activities can run from 6-11pm at night to allow for the hotel guest to parttake without creating to much of a disturbance.
NATIONAL QUEEN SHOW
AUG 05 this event should be held in our national stadium.
NATIONAL SOCA MONARCH
AUG 06 THIS OFCOURSE WILL REMAIN IN OUR NATIONAL STADIUM
PANORAMA NIGHT
AUG 07 (stays in same venue)
DEMARCHE GRAS
SUNDAY AUG 08 now based on past years and the very low turn out to this event along with the high expences involved in using the national stadium, i would like to suggest that this event could be moved to the carnival village. this would have to be looked at in terms of costs aspects but i am of the belief that the enviroment ni the carnival village might be more suited to encouraging people to patronize the event. as indeed the carnival village will have many different dimensions to it from vending of food and drinks to craft displays and showcasing of past winners of carnival king and queeen costumes etc.
JOUVERT
MONDAY AUG 09 this event can continue to use the traditional routes as in previous years.
PARADE OF THE BANDS
MONDAY AUG 09 (part one) FROM 1-8PM THIS PARADE route will see the bands line up on the lagoon road and jumping in the opposit direction ending up in the carnival village morne rouge where the bands that will like to make extra rounds around the park can do so, the idea behind moving the traditional pagent from this day is very simple because of the dimensions of our jouvert what we have seen happenning over the years is less and less spectators in the stadium to patronize the event not to mention all the mas bands on the monday are seeing significant reductions in numbers because of the jouvert most of their players would miss monday or come out later in the evening and catch a little jump which leads to logistical problems. for this day i would suggest only using two judging points (i will talk more on that topic later on)
PAGENT
TUESDAY AUG 10 whereby the bands can line up on meville street and jump their way across to the stadium and cross the stage as normal for judging, i think by doing this we will be able to give the mas players much more value for money plus and most importantly we will have a good chance of making the whole event turn into a profitable one from gate receipts in the park.
now traditionally our carnival would have been over after tuesday, but last year turned out to be a blessing in disguise and i believe it has shown us a way for us to improve our product overall.
EXTEMPO COMPETITION AND MS SUMMER SWIMWEAR PAGENT SHOW
WEDNESDAY AUG 11 IN THE carnival village
steelbands on the road competition
THURSDAY AUG 12 in the soca village each of the steel pans will parade around the morne rouge park stopping in certain areas to play for the judges and crowds on bleechers etc. people will be allowed to parade with their pan sides and thus seeing us help to bring back the aspect of pan music in our carnival.
PARTY KING COMPETITION
FRIDAY AUG 13 this is basically another soca competition but one that will be open to soca artist from other caribbean islands who can either be invited to take part or some sort of registration could be set up, the idea is to match our best against regional artist this event can take place the first year in the carnival village but i can see this event quickly moving itself into the national stadium as we move forward.
PARADE OF THE BANDS PT 2 AND LAST LAP CONCERT
SATURDAY AUG 14 once again bands will be able to parade along a route that will end up with them entering into the carnival village where a last lap concert will be held in the morne rouge playing feild. nthere will be two more judging points on this day to make the total of four now just imagine if we were to just charge all adults entering into the carnival village just 2.00ec per adult kids would be free, the carnival committee tendered out for vendors for the carnival village, including givng each of the three main aaaociations a area to set up their own bar and food stall to raise monies for their own development. just a quick point for those who might want to say thats to much mass? well in most other countries they will get a full two days of parade whilst in grenada our parade of the bands does not start until in most cases 1pm so if you add it up it will end up being about the same but just spread out to allow for more participation.
WARM DOWN EVENTS ON BOTH GRAND ANSE BEACH AND BATHWAY
SUNDAY AUG 15 now events such as kiddies carnival and august monday on grand anse beach can still happen (kiddies carnival if brought into the carnival village i believe would be much better for the parents and kids because of all the park area for them to rest and get shade as well. these are just some of the suggestions i believe if they are utilized can lead us to a point where our carnival becomes a profitable buisness for our country and indeed i believe we will become the best carnival in the entire caribbean. for those who took the time to read these ideas i would love to get your feedback as indeed these are just suggestions, i strongly believe the time has come for us to fix the things that havent been working for years.
