St. Vincent and the Grenadines is brimming with joy with its carnivals

teleSUR English

Festival season in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is underway and, in this context, our special envoy on the Caribbean island, Belén de los Santos, is there to offer more details about it.

Transcript

00:00Carnival season in St. Vincent and the Granarines is underway and in this context our special

00:04employee in the Caribbean island Belen de los Santos is there to offer more details on this.

00:10Hi Belen.

00:14Hello Ale precisely we continue here in St. Vincent and the Granarines. It's one more day of

00:20Vincimas Saturday of the final weekend so everybody is ready. What you see behind me

00:25is just one of the parties that are being set up for the coming hours. This is a very important

00:33day. There's a lot of sideline events regarding this weekend carnival and we'll be touring some

00:41of them so we'll be bringing you some of these festivities and celebrations that really highlight

00:47the identity of these people and the Caribbean region in general. The highlight of the night in

00:53the coming hours will be the Soka Monarch that is the competition in the search of the best of the

01:00best in the performance of this rhythm that is the Soka that comes from the Calypso. We've been

01:05talking about the importance of this to the Vincentian people and also to the Caribbean people

01:10in general and also a little bit of what we've been seeing in the last days the relevance the

01:18importance of the carnival as a way of uniting the identity of the Caribbean people. You'll see

01:25more in the following report right after I end up talking to you right now. We've been preparing this

01:31material so Ale for now I go back to you but before let's see the following material. Carnival has always been key to

01:40Caribbean and Latin American culture. It speaks of the regional ties and the sheer history that brings these

01:47people together in a celebration that every year comes back to highlight that local spirit. The

01:54carnival became most matured in Trinidad and Tobago in the mid 19th century because you have a number of

02:01migratory movements to Trinidad. People from Saint Vincent and the Grandines, from Grenada, from the

02:07French speaking territories and of course because Trinidad is so close to Venezuela we have the Calypso

02:15moving across from Venezuela into Trinidad and Tobago and there it makes its way back to the other territories.

02:25Carnival is a time of free up and like back in the it was the like the end where slavery where the

02:31slaves celebrate is what their time of celebration so we still celebrate it so anyone who have

02:36experienced it. It's a time when you forget your worries for like the well we have 10 days accountable

02:43so we say forget your worries for the 10 days. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines many of the local

02:48bands and its artists work hard to keep up the Vincentian tradition of artisan costume making that

02:55sets Vince MS apart. The locals look to tell a story in the streets through their work that speaks to their

03:01history and identity. What you see in Brazil you see in Miami you see in Trinidad you see in Carabana

03:08you see in in in New York you see and that's not what we want that's not what we are all about

03:13what we are about is as I said to tell a storyline not see one see all if you think of the

03:19Brazil mass and and you think about the the Trinidad and everything like that you just see

03:25feathers different colors feathers shape in different way what we try to do as we say Deepika's storyline

03:31and this is something we try to maintain. I mean every year every year I say this is my last year

03:38but the love for the arts your love for the music the love for creating things with your hands and then

03:46seeing it on the road carnival Tuesday it just gives you this nostalgic feeling that keeps you coming back

03:53back and my first memory of carnival is actually playing the steel pan with my village band and

04:02the signing euphonium steel orchestra so but the love for this art form keeps me coming back.

04:12Those family ties that make up the local mass bands and their artisan work together with the love

04:17for the music and energetic performances are what make Vince's carnival a must in the region.

04:25Calypso and soca and steel band and mass is like it's unique. There's a generalized carnival throughout

04:34the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean but we have our unique flavor and I hope you get to take in

04:41some of it. With the final costumes ready to go and the high energy music already playing in the streets

04:48Vince MS enters its final days of carnival as Kingstown becomes the hottest place in the Caribbean.

04:56Belen de los Santos from Kingstown Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for Telesur.

Category

Transcript

Recommended