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We now know the full results of this year’s Lucian Kannaval Shebang of the Year, and as Ricky T promised, ‘There’s a lot to talk about…’
Without a doubt, if “Lucian Carnival” is about showing who we are and what we have to show, then St. Lucia is the new paradigm on how to “have fun!”
As always, not everyone agreed with all the results, but everyone respected the judges’ final decisions.
Select Display
Baring everything and working out have become the branding for St. Lucia, with many visitors admitting that the sights they see here are only found in sweet St. Lucia, the only country in the world named after a woman.
A group of women from New Orleans, the home of Mardi Gras and jazz in the United States, said they came this year to “watch” our Mardi Gras, but next year they will be back to “be Lucien Mas.”
But while a dwindling older generation continues to loudly condemn the way most female revelers display their bodies, their body armor continues to attract the gaze of critics who claim that “boobs and buttocks are so common” these days that it’s impossible not to look, to watch.
The thing is, anyone who tries hard to find fault will get or invent enough distracting reasons, but even the usual naysayers will quietly admit that this year was the best Mardi Gras they’ve ever seen, if only because we escaped Hurricane Beryl or because there was no crime.
According to police reports, people have taken advice to drink responsibly and behave responsibly!
Everyone who left home to watch the carnival had a lot to see; everyone who paid to join the band – whether VIP or V-VIP – received more than the value of their money.
Milky Way
The quality of the bands varies greatly, with some bands having nearly 2,000 members; the themes of the bands vary, and the performances also have their own characteristics.
Some bands focus more on numbers than costumes, while others stick with the traditional universal themes of gods and goddesses, ghosts and dragons of a lost city in the Imperial system east of the Milky Way’s sun, in different ways.
Others choose to adopt the human rights and freedoms clause, seemingly unconcerned about how those members who “pay their dues” care what or how they present themselves in the local galaxy between the Bambam walls and the Castries waterfront.
“Dingole”
Frankly, while I see a lot of progress on television every year, I don’t see enough progress and emphasis on creativity rather than carnival, on better understanding the roots of carnival rather than learning or teaching how to best “dingolay”.
A few years ago I only briefly went out to see the so-called “French” bands from Martinique or Cayenne (in the French Caribbean, mostly St. Lucians) because they were so well coordinated and organized, well choreographed, and consistent.
But over the past few decades, we have not followed the lead of our fellow citizens in St. Lucia, who have adopted, as a good friend who loves Carnival puts it, “a far more shameful practice….”
Good, better, best…
Last Wednesday wasn’t Ash Wednesday, but everyone interviewed by local and visiting media agreed that this year’s Mardi Gras was either “good,” “better,” or “the best!”
The Ministry of Tourism and Culture boasted of a surge in visitor numbers and participation.
As usual, some vendors complained about the fees and rains affecting their profits, during which it was discovered that those who refused to pay the official fees cheated by paying less or no fees, while the city police were responsible for policing the procession.
There were legitimate comments about the need to revisit venues, routes, emergency preparedness levels, traffic management – and many of the usual annual observations repeated every year.
The fairness of the distribution of government aid programs and the future of traditional events such as Ole Mas, J’ouvert and the Road March were also openly discussed, including the enduring fascination of the Saint Lucian diaspora with the Bam-Bam Wall.
There has been good news for Carnival 2024 since Ash Wednesday, which has helped boost visitor numbers at the beginning of the second half of the year to numbers that are better than in 2023 and, most importantly, much better than in 2019, which was the best year for our tourism industry before the pandemic.
Of course, people often talk about wanting to develop rural and community tourism in towns and villages, and while that’s all well and good, implementation requires deep planning.
For example: Is the goal to have all 17 constituencies hold carnivals simultaneously, or is it held annually, like in Jounen Kweyol?
But in any case, beyond the townspeople and villagers supporting their community Carnival, how can people who are used to watching and attending Carnival in the “North” be encouraged to reverse the trend and the tide, just as people from the “East, West and South” always flock to Castries on Mondays and Tuesdays for Carnival throughout their lives?
Once again, this year’s natural elements (rain) didn’t prevent the revelry, but they did provide many useful lessons about why planning for the revelry during hurricane season must also take into account the growing climate change.
We’ve heard and seen it this year — including a Catholic priest taking to the calypso stage and being accused of selling out his priestly robes and his congregants.
We also saw the disgusting scene of a national monument being attacked by an allegedly misbehaving tourist waving the national flag, but we also saw many other Caribbean and international flags from far-flung countries, from Guyana to Ghana, from Jamaica to the UK and Canada.
Careful witticisms
Speaking of Canada…I still have great admiration for the ability of the people of St. Lucia (and the Caribbean in general) to turn the smallest of dirt hills into beautiful mountains.
Take the criticism of the prime minister for refusing to offer drinks or “rum punch” to people in distress, which became an unassailable talking point in the calypso tent – DYP’s rendition of “Maka Bai Wom” was a popular DJ mix and won second place in the Road March competition (which judged which song was played most by the band on tour).
Then, the Prime Minister himself was able to turn the “ginger ale” joke into a serious statement, and he actually offered locally made ginger ale through the railings (of the VIP platform that he and other officials occupied) to the many people who wanted to have their pictures taken with him.
Two steps back…
We need to re-examine Carnival, not because there is anything right or wrong about it, but because everything is changing and we must keep up with the times, but we cannot let the times change us.
We must look back to the past and look forward to the future, but look back first and then look forward to the future.
We have to take two steps back and then one step forward. We have to bring carnival into schools – not to teach people how to drink wine and eat jam, but to teach people about the history of carnival and how it came about.
We need to let today’s 21st century generation know that there were carnivals before 1979 and 2000, and they were nothing like they are now: not as big, not as crazy, or not as dazzling.
But even then, there were concerns, and every Ash Wednesday there were news reports of women throwing acid on another woman, stabbing her with a knife, or simply fighting with another woman because they saw her jumping with her man.
Back then, in the very early days, there were also Mardi Gras-related gang wars between steel drum bands from Faux-a-Chaux and Conway.
There were no hi-fis back then (or wifi for that matter), and each band was accompanied by a steel drum band – who were also dressed in parade costumes, ready for a night of revelry around the town of Castries.
Today, the older generations need to teach and explain, to share our memories of the connection between Ash Wednesday and the Church; how Carnival is a Christian celebration and marks the end of joyous and carefree life and the beginning of Lent.
Young Saint Lucians – children, students and youth – need to know the meaning of the word “J’ouvert” – just as the dawn of the final three-day chapter of the Carnival season (the burning of the festival devil through the “Tayway Vaval” ritual from Monday to Wednesday) begins.
We also have to explain the origin and meaning of the word “Vaval” (in terms of what it is intended to mean); and why on Ash Wednesday all Mardi Gras costumes are burned at the state dump in Faux-a-Chaux, Shit Alley or Queen’s Lane.
Young Christians also need to know why painting ashes on your forehead at Ash Wednesday evening Mass means you have turned away from sin and begun to repent and seek redemption – for a full 40 days and 40 nights.
The Lent period culminates at Easter, another long holiday lasting several days, beginning on Good Friday and ending on Easter Monday.
We must understand why we have so many church-related holidays—called “holy days,” as distinct from national holidays—and why the church continues to complain because it still sees a hostile takeover of Christian practices by the state, which simply doesn’t care if Palm Sunday falls on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
Let’s get started…
We must begin to show more appreciation for the ability of the geniuses in our culture who are always able to creatively integrate today’s issues with the songs they sing and the characters they play.
That veterans like Adrian Ogier (and other figures from yesteryear) are also forced to compete with those who engage in and profiteer from a pa-may-lay approach only highlights the nakedness of our creative imaginations.
“Young women of yore” (as they were then called) before the end of the last century were taught to always be aware of how they looked on the road, but over the years the effectiveness of this advice has diminished as it has become increasingly obvious to the naked eye.
We have introduced profitable entrepreneurship into almost every aspect of carnival and culture, from La Woz to Jounen Kweyol, but the stark reality hits us in the face and, as usual, we argue without thinking, speaking first and thinking later, like being forced to choose between elephants and donkeys, or between mules and Jaskasses.
A meaningless vacation…
Fortunately, the commemorations from the end of Carnival to the third consecutive Liberation Month went smoothly and naturally.
Liberation Month was officially launched with last month’s Carnival, which included the “La Woz” event, as well as the “La Magwit” and “Jounen Kweyol” events in October.
And then there is December 13th, the only old colonial imposed holiday that we still cling to and celebrate without any valid reason – except our love for the holiday…
We come up with all kinds of reasons to keep December 13th as an unpaid holiday, but these reasons too shall pass, as we shall eventually have to accept the hard fact that we have become the prime example of a nation that has tried to turn a fake “Discovery Day” into a real Independence Day – and still calls it a “National Day.”
Lazy sofa
I’m enjoying every detail of the 2024 Mardi Gras that I’m following as much as I’m a lazy slob on my couch.
I spent weekend nights in bed listening to everything The Sab was playing, watching everything I was interested in online – watching the live parades of bands and select shows on CHOICE and Hot 7 TV on Monday and Tuesday – enjoying the bird’s eye view that only “live coverage” can provide, where a perfect observer like me can observe the Carnival at The Mas from a distance – including the long tears of heartbreak caused by the separation of Ash Wednesday Mass from the Playing Mas on Carnival Monday and Tuesday decades ago.
But, my friends, that’s another Lucian Ole Mas story!
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