After two years of a global pandemic, the expectation was that Grenada would enjoy a carnival season full of energy, with practitioners and audiences alike eager for the revelry and pageantry associated with said carnival.
Sadly, this is not the case with dwindling numbers in participation in the flagship event – Soca Monarch not to mention the sub-standard quality of the presentations – I am hesitant to use the words song or music to describe what was delivered during the preliminaries of the soca and groovy competitions.
In past years as much as 160 Artistes have registered in a particular season for the soca monarch competition. The fact that 63 Artistes registered this year is suggestive of a lack of interest and when one considers the quality or lack thereof, certainly a lack of effort. It would be easy to blame elections for the decrease in numbers and the general lack of interest in all things carnival.
However, after waiting two years, after two illegal ‘jouverts’ it would have been reasonable to assume that not even the shenanigans of the political parties could stop or slow down the mas. In fact, months after Hurricane Ivan and days after Hurricane Emily Grenada successfully hosted a carnival season with the prevailing thought that psychologically the revelry was needed, not unlike the thought process following a global pandemic and months of lock-down and inactivity.
This dis-interest and lackluster approach to carnival 2022 falls squarely on the body responsible for the hosting of carnival – the Spicemas Corporation. The glaring lack of any developmental undertaking over the past two years and the wanton disregard for any movement in the direction of cultural preservation now has our carnival lagging behind those of other OECS territories, when just three years ago we were the envy of the sub-region.
Two conspicuous observations point to how devoid of a developmental thrust there is at the helm of the SMC. At a carnival press conference on Monday July 11th, 2022 – the Children’s Carnival Frolic (Kiddies Carnival) was not mentioned. Not one single mention of the plans for the component of carnival that propagates the future of the festival. The other observation is the lack of connectivity between the SMC and the efforts of the Ogiste Brothers – Luni Spark and Electrify (the hosts of a Junior Soca Monarch competition). One would imagine that the Brothers would be called in and offered, if not monetary at least material support for this noble and crucial endeavor.
If the future of carnival is not nurtured and fertilized presently we run the risk of having even less interest and participation in the tradition elements of carnival while we add even more fetes and parties thus shrinking the traditional carnival calendar.
Recently the SMC announced a day (July 9th) to commemorate the Mighty Sparrow and his accomplishment. The announcement and ensuing ‘celebrations’ (which amounted to some drinks under a tent and a pot of oildown) was met with mixed reviews, with most Grenadians being puzzled as to why Sparrow and why now.
Choosing the 87th birthday to begin this commemoration is puzzling to say the least. Why not his 75th or 90th birthday. The 87th seems so random that it is difficult to see this continuing. A better acknowledgement would have been ‘Calypso Day’ on July 9th the day the Calypso King of the World was born, but recognizing the efforts of Grenadians who have contributed significantly to the art form. Incidentally King Ajamu is also born in July, we await the big announcement.
The notion that carnival can be run and decisions made when a groups of friends pontificate at their favorite watering hole without any serious policy guidelines continues to ruin our most important cultural and economic season. In one fell swoop calypso final is no longer in Town and no longer on Sunday night, precious resources that could have been used for development by the SMC are now going to be used to bring Dominican band WCK to panorama and the Mighty Gabby to the Thursday Night Calypso finals. Both events are not going to see increased patronage because of the add-ons and additional expense.
What we now have as a calypso product cannot be dressed up, disguised and moved around to generate interest. Getting more people to the competitive calypso shows has more to do with the quality of songs and performances and less to do with the day of the week the shows are held. Workshops and seminars should have been the SMC’s reason for existence over the past years while the full complement of staff remained on the payroll even when no celebrations were hosted.
It is indeed sad that coming out of the starting blocks in 2022, Grenada’s Carnival with a sizeable lead has now relinquished its position to the likes of St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua.
It is hard to fathom that more excitement was derived from watching ‘jab jab’ run under the Paradise Bridge to avoid a police roadblock than the preliminary and quite possibly the semifinal stage of the Groovy and Soca Monarch competitions.
Maybe, just maybe we should go back to being Grenada’s Carnival it seems the brand Spicemas causes us to lose the true essence of Carnival.
Dexter Mitchell
In 2011 the former Road March and Soca Monarch Winner – Boogie B recorded a remake of the late Timpo’s 1981 Road March winning composition – We Want We Carnival
madeingrenada 