IslandMix

On selling a Carnival

Thursday April 10 2008



by Hazra C. Medica


First You Tell Them That Your Festival Is Simply The Best:

There are some labels, slogans and “mottoes” we never quarrel about.

Then there are others which we fight - tooth and nail, fangs and claws showing- without fear for our lives and limbs, (figuratively of course), to claim as our own.

St. Lucia, we learnt to intone in those primary school Social Studies classes, is the Helen of the West. Trinidad boasts of being the land of the hummingbird (and steel pan). Barbados is the land of the flying fish and no one attempts to wrest from Grenada the label of the Spice Isle.

Guyana is the land of many rivers and Dominica is the virgin among us all – unspoilt she calls herself – the Nature Isle. Jealously some may look on, but they never really question our nation, Antigua and Barbuda’s claim to being the isle of 365 beaches: one for every day of the year.

Jamaica is the land of wood and water (as well as of Bob and Reggae) – Montserrat is the Emerald Isle and Belize is Mother Nature’s best kept secret.

So…it is we reside in relative calm and peace with each other…joshing about our various labels, slogans and “mottoes” until the one season appears – Carnival which sends us in a frenzy to grasp for the one label we think necessary for survival.

We must claim to be the best. Something there is in claiming to be the host of the “greatest”, the “hottest”, the “most enjoyable” event in the Caribbean (or the world). Each territory appears ever anxious and at pains to – yes, identify its version of Carnival as being authentically Caribbean but also different and better than the festivals held in the other territories. When it comes to our individual festivals- each one of us will claim to be simply the best!


Take the trek to St. Vincent:

The home page of the St. Vincent and Grenadines’ carnival Web site gives us a “brief footnote” on the island’s “Carnival tradition” while the announcer’s voice runs in the background. At the end of it all the male announcer’s voice exclaims: “Vincy Mas’ 2008- the hottest Carnival in the Caribbean!”

Over in Trinidad:

The National Carnival Commission (NCC) of Trinidad & Tobago, on its 2008 Web site 2008 took the time to declare on 2 Feb.,: “Carnival - the world’s greatest street festival. The Carnival season climaxes on the 4th and 5th February, 2008 when thousands of costumed revellers take to the streets to “play mas”.”

If we were still a bit unclear as to which Carnival was being referred to as the “world’s greatest street festival”- the good folks at NCC clued us in with an entry directly below the one from 2 Feb.,: “With its unique creative explosion of colour, music and revelry, Trinidad’s Carnival is described as the greatest show on earth” the 19 Jan., 2008 entry boasted.


As for St. Lucia:

The St. Lucia Tourism Web site has its own bit to say about the Lucian Carnival. A press release from 2007 “St. Lucia Gets Set to Host St. Lucia Carnival 2007” sums up:

“Saint Lucia is quickly earning a reputation for having one of the most enjoyable Carnival celebrations in the Caribbean. That sentiment was revealed in the latest survey of visitors who come to Saint Lucia every year for the July Festivities.”

Then trot over to the “Spice Isle”:

In 2006, Dexter Mitchell on Grenada’s Carnival Web site agreed, yes- every island could boast about some element of its Carnival but he had something special to tell us about the celebrations in Grenada:

“Every island can boast of its own Carnival characteristics, its distinctive brand of music and its unique portrayal and interpretation of mas’. However, in Grenada our Carnival celebrations stand out in a way that would astound and please even the most devoted and seasoned Carnival lover.”


Here in Antigua:

We have all seen and heard the ads in the past and the present promoting our nation’s Carnival – they are careful to croon at us through the television or radio one phrase if nothing else: “the Caribbean’s greatest summer festival”

Our anxiety (here in Antigua and in the region) is understandable- we have long took to marrying Carnival to tourism. This marriage is what has led many of our scholars to hold serious talks about the manner in which we “exploit” resources such as our cultural activities and symbols for our King Tourism.

They would remind us that several of our Carnivals were designed to please the King since somewhere in the past, we would have changed the dates of our festivals to attract visitors to our shoes in an “off-season” period.

So…here we are in this region- with “outsiders” still trying to comprehend that every territory in the Caribbean is not indeed a part of Jamaica! Here we are in a region in which we must compete whilst we offer similar products (Carnivals, palm trees, sand, sea, and etcetera) and target similar markets for similar periods of the year.

Naturally, we must remove ourselves from the lump known as the Caribbean. We must claim to better the other islands in terms of the cultural package, of which carnival is such a big part, being offered. We must simply be the best!


Talk A Little History If You Will:

Give a little background like St. Vincent and Grenadines does to ensure that everyone understands that your Carnival isn’t any “Johnny come lately”. Tell them, like the official St. Vincent and the Grenadines Carnival Web site does, that “Carnival” means “farewell to the flesh” and that it was a pre-Lenten Festival brought to the island in the late eighteenth century by the French.

Or like Antiguanice.com does for Antigua- talk about Carnival being a “fantastic celebration of happiness.” Tell them that you have to “step back in time to 1st August 1834 when slavery was abolished.” This isn’t the time to talk about whips and chains or any gruesome stuff- tell them about how people “immediately celebrated by taking to the streets to celebrate their freedom and express their joy and happiness.” Tell them.

Then tell them your festival is culturally driven; a “cultural mix”- put on solely for their benefit – like then Minister of Carnival John Maginley did in 2006.

In his welcome to visitors on our Carnival Web site, the minister of Carnival described our Carnival as a “cultural mix” and a “cultural explosion”- a product which had been “carefully crafted” for “your” (the visitor’s) enjoyment.

To some, this would seem to suggest that the Antiguan Carnival (so long thought of as “we t’ing”- the time when we “free up” and release our frustrations-) has been entirely transformed into a performance put on for the benefit of the tourist.

Well…if we are to woo tourists (the regional and international) to our shores for the

“Caribbean's greatest summer festival”, oughtn’t we to whisper sweet nothings in their ears? Tell them that something as important as the island’s main festival- “the cultural explosion” called Carnival has been “crafted” solely for their enjoyment. It’s not like we are lying- don’t we spend so much time urging our residents to keep the “celebrations” clean for our visitors?

The word from the St. Lucia Tourist Board is that things are looking up since they made the "ole switcheroo". It was all about getting more visitors involved in the celebrations. How could visitors get to enjoy the “exciting spectacle of colour , music and revelry?” if they had to be choosing between St. Lucia and Trinidad each year?

How could they obey the calls to “Pack your bags, get to the airport and take the next flight out to the island paradise of Saint Lucia”? Well up until around 2001, the good people at the St. Lucia Tourist Board say, St. Lucia’s Carnival was celebrated as a pre-Lenten event in February.

Then they moved to July, so that visitors would not have to choose between the St. Lucian festival and the Trinidadian. The word is that thanks to the switch, statistics are now showing a steady growth in July arrivals into St. Lucia.

And of course, the St. Lucian Carnival is a cultural pepper pot. It is unique, according to the St. Lucian Tourist Board, because of “the presence of all cultural art forms like theatre, music, dance, song, costumes and drama…”

Brazil too, talks about its own cultural mix- it highlights the “samba schools”, the brilliant costume, extravagant floats… and talks about the “integration of the arts”. The Brazilian Carnival Web site invites visitors to the Rio de Janeiro Carnival to:

“…encounter the mesmerising multi-sensory effects of the parade of samba schools. Combined, the extravagance of the floats, the colourful brilliance of the costumes, the magic of the music, the infectious laughter and the energy of the dancers makes for a complete integration of the arts.”

On her part- Anguilla said it all with her 2007 slogan: “Strictly Culture Driven- Anguilla Summer Festival 2007”.

Then Send Them To Seep in Images of Carnivals Past and Present:

Sprinkle them- pictures, video clips and audio clips- you name it. Sprinkle- like most islands do- the contents of your Carnival past and present on your various “official Web sites.” Ensure that pictures of tantalizing native women in tantalising costumes- as well as cheerfully grinning native men are highly visible.

Show “them” themselves in your Carnival past and present- ensure that there are pictures on your site which will tell them- be they regional or international tourists- that others like them have come to your Carnival and had a blast.

Put on parade your calypsonians, mas’ troupes and groups, your Carnival queens staring into the camera with such bold and inviting looks… your steel pan groups.

Then see…if they dare resist.

I saw that in the Sun. It was an interesting read.

interesting.

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jam on some body

CROP OVER FESTIVAL its more than a carnival its SWEET FAH DAYS





Runs outta thread b4 de carnival peeps clobber me

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We going from Sun til Sun.......

Crap over

crap over have j'ouvert ?

how many days of mas 1?

any nice pan on de road

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jam on some body

and ur point is.......... Crop Over has elements that are unique to the festival and I am sure the same can be said for every other Carnival......

Being differnet is nice sometimes

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We going from Sun til Sun.......

good ting dat crap go be over by september


j/k

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jam on some body

yes-i read this article in the antiguasun too, and i was also intrigued by it.

be good to yuh neighbour...remember you guys work symbiotically.

Maybe this is happening for Antigua Carnival, never been, but I have seen no evidence of this in other Small-Island Carnivals Ive been too...ie, the water-down of carnival to attract and woo the tourist.

In fact, except for perhaps Barbados and Trinidad, the so-called tourists that are visiting for carnival are Islanders or their children returning home for carnival or carnival people from neighboring islands. You would not have to water-down or clean up the carnival to attract these people. I see very few typical tourists visiting the small islands just for carnival, thats been my impression.

In fact, my wife and I visited St. Lucia last year for carnival for the first time and we stayed at the Coco Palm. The whole hotel filled with carnival people but they wern't from North America or the UK, they were from Martinique and Guadelope. We appeared to be the only so-called tourists in the whole hotel that were there for carnival and wern't from the Caribbean. Incidently, those people from the French Islands were the most unfriendly group of people I have ever run across...anywhere. Most refused to even make eye contact.

Have had pretty much the same experience in St. Kitts, Jamaica and Grenada.
Those tourists standing by the road watching the parade just happen to be on the island during carnival...very few came because it was carnival time.

My point is...no need to change carnival to attract and woo the typical non-Caribbean type tourist, cuz these people not likely to be coming anyway, nah?

really? well i always get great reception, i like dem vibes dem hot french boys does give me. walking by them, my name suddenly turns to "WOW!"

uk/usa tourism or not, i looooove summer carnivals and i cud care shit bout if they don't come to my island. bring in de riddim!!!

thats my thing now.......i stop the persuasion. i don't care who come or who doesn't doesn't rate my carnival, as longs the musicians produced the songs i like and, i enjoy myself around that period.

i agree wit you.................

Here's how you SELL A CARNIVAL:

BRING D BACCHANAL...BRING D RIDDIM!



SLU Carnival...2007

c'mon man, if u think that's d shit of lucia, obviously u eh see nun yet, shame on u man!

SLU Carnival 2K7



From Red International, reputed as sexy (jammette) band in Lucia.

boy i tell u, i envied dat woman soooooooooo much eh! she lucky i eh see her on d road.

wam to dem shoes boi

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jam on some body