by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): We are halfway through the year; Nevis Culturama 49 is in full swing, and the next biggest event for the Federation is Sugar Mas 52.
Former calypsonian, organiser, judge, commentator and host of all things Carnival, Clement “Monarch” O’ Garro on WINN’s Voices, said plans for Sugar Mas 52 should be released at the end of July 2023.
The new Director of Carnival for the St. Kitts Nevis National Carnival Secretariat, O’ Garro, who is responsible for overseeing the administration of the National Carnival Secretariat, said the calendar is currently being finalised, which will highlight the core carnival period December 15, 2023 – January 2, 2024.
“We’ve been putting out a calendar for Carnival from November to January… I’m sorry, I don’t think that that makes any sense because if I am a foreigner if I don’t know anything about St. Kitts Carnival, I look it up online, and I see stuff spreading out from November to January, and I’m like, which period do I go to. We’re not eliminating everything. The Carnival period itself would be that two-week period that we’re normally accustomed to, so we’re going to go from December 15 to January 2, 2024. But we will still have the events and activities prior to the 15th. It’s just that those two weeks – and we’re calling them the Power Weeks – of the Carnival where we have the Calypso Monarch, National Carnival Queen – Panorama is being pushed back later than it normally is – we realise that that’s a show that’s growing by leaps and bounds, and so we want some of our visitors who are coming in to get an opportunity to see it live as opposed to online – we’re pushing that back into the season.”
O’ Garro said registration forms for various Carnival activities will go live in the coming weeks; the registration window for the 2023-2024 National Carnival Queen Pageant closed on July 5, according to the St. Kitts & Nevis National Carnival’s Facebook Page.
“Our National Carnival Queen Contestants have already submitted, so we do have a good crop of girls… We definitely have more than we had last year, so that’s a good sign. We’re getting ready to do our slogan as well, and we’ve received hundreds of slogans.”
On a personal note, the Carnival Director, on the topic of slogans, suggested a move away from slogans based on some of the submissions he has seen.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s time – and this is me personally, I’m taking off all the hats that you just had me wearing – maybe it’s time we go away from slogans because I’ve raked through hundreds of them – people are trying to rhyme and because they’re trying to rhyme some of the stuff really, is not that good. But we will come up with one. We’re in the process of scrutinising and eliminating right now. ”
The new Carnival Director could not share much in the way of plans for Suagr Mas 52 prior to the official release of the calendar in the coming weeks; however, he promised some surprises for revellers and carnival goers alike.
