We are hours away from the 2006 carnival road march. Five junior and three senior carnival bands will march from Caesar Ridge Road all the way to the Marion Jones Stadium. Tomorrow's show will be the result of months of work, thousands of dollars, and countless sleepless nights. So what did it produce? Keith Swift did the rounds at the mas camps last night and has a preview.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The carnival big truck mowed through the city last night unleashing the energy and excitement of bacchanal from Kraal Road all the way to Faber's Road.
It was truly bacchanal time and with their king costume depicting Father of the Nation George Price dancing in the center of a street fest, the Black Pear group literally stopped traffic on Dean Street. With 135 members, Black Pearl is the largest junior carnival group. Black Pearl's coordinator is Kendra Bulwer.
Kendra Bulwer, Black Pearl
"Black Pearl is going to be out here. We are going to have fun, a lot of colors, we are going to have a great time. We want everybody to come out, support the carnival, and support Black Pearl as well because we are here to have fun carnival day come Saturday. We have 135 strong band members. All the kids are ready to go out there to have fun, dance the day away, and that is it for Black Pearl...I look forward to carnival every year. It is something that brings a lot of fun to you, it is a lot of colors, it is just a time to party, have fun, dance on the street, the street is ours, just to celebrate and have fun."
And from Dean Street to Kraal Road near the camp for the Yarborough Hawaiians. You can't tell from their energy but this is the group's first year and first carnival. The Hawaiian Group is funded by Oscar Rosado Jr. and led by Lisa Anthony. To save money, the costumes for the twenty eight females and two male masqueraders are made from crocus bags.
Lisa Anthony, Yarborough Hawaiians
"This is the way how we made it out of the bags. We thread them and this is how it looks afterwards. This is what the girls will be wearing with the things on their hands. This is the first time we are having a carnival group in the Yabra area so all I can say is we are just trying to enjoy ourselves and bring something out of Yabra because all people are talking about the violence and crime here so we are trying to bring out something good from the Yabra area...Yabra could party too."
And one group whose members know how to party is Jump Street Posse. They are no longer on Jump Street but last night Faber's Road became Jump Street. The group's leader Marina Wellcome says she will have sixty-five children dancing in three sections.
Marina Wellcome, Jump Street Posse
"We are depicting fantasy of the wildlife. Our first section will be led by the Belize flag, our second section is a little of little trees, and the third section is the swan which shows the beauty of the rainforest."
Keith Swift,
Every year I ask you this, how do you keep up with these kids?
Marina Wellcome,
"It is very hard Keith but God gives me the energy for it."
The energy she needs is for revelers like her King Justin Gill and his Queen Veronica Flores. Of course we all remember the beheading of Justin's two headed dragon. He says he is now ready - head or headless.
Justin Gill, Jump Street King
"From King and Queen finished I have been ready for that day. As the King and Queen finished, those were fixed from the Monday night. Everything is fixed so I am ready to go Rambo again."
Veronica Flores, Jump Street Queen
"I am ready for anything right now."
At the senior camps, we found the energy notched down a bit. At Fantaxia, Mother Nature's Creation, and at Erotic Mas Camps, designers were still burning the midnight oil finishing costumes for Saturday. Carla Smith is bandleader for Mother Nature's Creations. Yet again this year they have been busy crocheting their outfits. Last year they wore skirts - this year the choice is short pants.
Keith Swift,
Last year you guys were unique because you guys had crocheted your outfits. Has that changed this year?
Carla Smith, Mother Nature's Creation
"No it will be better this year...this everybody called and asked what I was going to bring out this year and I told them it was hard for me last year to do so many costumes and everybody encouraged me to go for it again this year."
At Fantaxia Camp, the members continue to work but they are still wary and concerned about Saturday's tear gas attack. Keisha Alvarez is the bandleader.
Keisha Alvarez, Fantaxia
"Well from Fantaxia you can expect mass improvement because last year we came out on our own. We decided to come out on our own after Cultural Heritage had given. We came out on our own so we barely had any crowd because a lot of dancers didn't know we were coming out last year under a different name. So this year we have our crowd and everything so there is a mass improvement."
Keith Swift,
Has Saturday's incident affected the group?
Keisha Alvarez,
"Well not really because it was sad what happened, what took place. It was very sad."
Keith Swift,
G. Michael Reid said you guys might have done it accidentally.
Keisha Alvarez,
"Well according to G. Michael Reid and according to Terry Gordon, I want them to know that we can read and write. We know from a container and a piece of paper. Dynamite everything comes in a piece of paper and our presentation has to be done before our dancers start to dance."
Erotic Mas Band is the reigning King and Queen of Carnival. This year the group will have four sections and its membership has ballooned from eighty to one hundred and fifteen. David Matus is the costume designer.
David Matus, Erotic Mas Band
"This year is our time is 'Que Viva Belize' and we have a special section which is in regards to our 25th year of independence and the other three sections deal with the Battle of St. George's Caye."
Keith Swift,
115 masqueraders is a lot of people and costumes.
David Matus,
"That is a lot of work. We have 100 females and fifteen males...it is going to be a lot of work until the end but we will be there."
Of course carnival wouldn't be carnival without controversy. Black Pearl feels they were cheated and Jump Street feels jilted.
Kendra Bulwer, Black Pearl
"We feel that our costumes were one of beauty, it meant something, it had meaning. The theme behind it was something important and so we believe that we were judged unfairly."
Keith Swift,
Do you believe that the scores were tampered with or do you believe that the judges were just bias?
Kendra Bulwer,
"I can't say whether the judges were bias or that the papers were tampered with but I do believe that we were judged unfairly and that judging that took place at the stadium should have been scrapped and everything done over on carnival day."
Marina Wellcome,
"Well I know I got a little bit jilted for the King and Queen Competition but we are coming out solid and strong for the road march competition...they didn't judge my swan, the pink bird. I wouldn't say because they didn't give it the queen right. There was a little conflict right, they had stated that the wheels would have been okay for the junior bands and on the day of the King and Queen Competition it was a different story. But I am not having any problem with that because for the road march we are coming out strong."
Strong like Jump Street and other bands have been doing for years.
You can see the carnival road march live here on Channel 7 with Angela Gegg and Neil Hall. Our coverage begins at 12:30.