SAINT LUCIA carnival was represented in Guadeloupe’s Pointe a Pitre Parade of the Bands earlier this month.
A group of 40 revellers in three sections, Stilt Walkers, Juniors and Adults led by Barry George of the Silver Shadows Academy gave a sterling choreographed performance before thousands of appreciative spectators.
There were visiting bands from Cayenne, Haiti, Martinique and Santo Domingo. The Poine a Pitre Parade of the Bands featured 59 carnival bands while the parade started at 1:00 p.m and ended at 10.30 p.m with Double Face doing a “four peat” emerging winners ahead of WakaChire Band and Guimbo All Stars. Notably, all three of the bands have visited Saint Lucia during our July Carnival in previous years.
In other judging categories of Mas a Po and Ti Mas, Nayson and Mas Moul Massif emerged as winners respectively, these being the two styles, which used local material like body paint, shrub, flowers, coconut and banana leaves, the thumping sound of repeater and bass drums, the cracking sound of whips, incense and human voices to invoke, cleanse and embrace their ancestral rituals.
On the following Monday, the Saint Lucian group visited Basseterre to see the Night Carnival but did not join the parade since they were scheduled to leave early the following morning to return to Saint Lucia. The St. Lucia Carnival group was the guest of the Groupement pour la Culture et la Carnaval Region Pointoise, led by Joel Jacota and hosted by the Mayor of Pointe a Pitre, Jacques Bangou.
Travelling with the group were Senator KentryJn Pierre, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries and Gandolph St. Clair, Co-ordinator for the French carnivalists in Saint Lucia with the CPMA.