ANTIGUA EVENTS
Antigua’s Carnival, the Caribbean’s Greatest Summer Festival, showcases all aspects of Carnival, music, mas, steel pan and pageantry. This is the perfect time to experience the island’s culture, music and food. Join in the fun between 28 July and 7 August, 2012.
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Antigua Carnival
his celebration of Emancipation lasts a little over a week with a great calendar of events. The festival climaxes on Emancipation Day, starting with (4am) J’ouvert Morning when people take to the streets dancing to the local jam bands, steel bands and iron bands often dressed in the most unusual outfits. This is the true meaning of freedom … Emancipation! The great carnivals of the world are judged primarily on their music and mas. Carnival Monday and Tuesday fall on the first Monday and Tuesday of August every year. On these two days the carnival troupes descend on the streets of St. John’s adorned in their carnival costumes bursting with colour and dancing to the pumping soca rhythms, steel bands, iron bands and popular DJs.
Carnival mas costumes depict colourful and magical themes often with national or regional significance. Their beading, feathers and jewels represent months of work in the various mas camps where the costumes are handmade. Mas makers often work into the early hours of the morning to produce hundreds of costumes in the hope of winning the coveted title of ‘Band of the Year’. Other events in the Carnival line-up include a fiercely competitive Calypso competition, where masters of the art compete with songs of social commentary.
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The high-energy party-style Soca Monarch competition draws a party crowd. Artists are judged on various criteria, since crowd participation carries significant weight, so the audience is encouraged to join in the fun. The Queen of Carnival Show is always eagerly anticipated by pageant aficionados. Young ladies are judged on performing talent, interview, poise and grace, all aiming to be crowned Miss Antigua & Barbuda. ‘Teensplash’, is a talent competition for talented teenagers, which creates a school rivalry atmosphere increasing in intensity every year. Carnival City is bursting with teenagers on this night. No Carnival festival would be complete without a Panorama competition. The bittersweet rivalry that exists among the various steel orchestras fuels the passion to practice musical renditions for months in advance of the competition. The hard work and dedication is evident on Panorama night when the steel orchestras grace the stage at Carnival City with high-energy performances often punctuated with dramatic antics. The audience is always captivated. Carnival closes off with Last Lap where the jam bands wind their way through the streets of St. John’s pumping out the most popular songs of the Carnival season. It’s the perfect time to come and experience the culture, music and food of Antigua & Barbuda.
For more information on Antigua Carnival visit www.antiguacarnival.com