Revellers move with the crowd - many switch because of friends, convenience

Carnival 2017 can best be described as collectively huge yet individually small, as thousands of patrons streamed out in their colourful costumes and attire. However, the vibe was not as intense as revellers were scattered across four different parades.

Bands like Xaymaca and Xodus seemed to have pulled support from overseas, while Jamaica Carnival and Bacchanal Jamaica saw support from the upper, middle and lower class. Nevertheless, the rain held up for the majority of the proceedings, and the promoters seemed content with their respective audiences, considering the increased options.

Recording artiste Denyque, who switched sides from Bacchanal to join Xaymaca Carnival this year, admitted that a smaller audience is a disadvantage to the respective carnivals. She also noted that her decision to switch from Bacchanal was not ‘selling out’.

BIT CONFUSING

“It’s a bit of a minus that the audience is smaller because the general public looks out for carnival and the John Public will not get to see the full experience and it’s a bit confusing. There is an idea that we can make it one long road march with all four carnivals, but that might be too long and tiring. As for me, I didn’t go with Bacchanal this year because I have always been a part of the Sleek team. So once Sleek went on it’s own with Xaymaca Carnival, I went along with them. So it’s not really a sell-out, but Sleek has always had my support,” she said.

Kandy King, ambassador for Xaymaca, also expressed that she was overwhelmed by the turnout. She also defended the decrease in crowd size, highlighting that the event is more hassle free and patrons now have better access to food and bars.

One reveller, Terry Ann McKoy, who was spotted at the Xaymaca lunch station, noted that she switched because she wanted better customer service.

“I had a bad experience getting lunch in previous years, it was too much people trying to go to one food station at once. Also, I prefer when it is not scanty like this because I have more space to move without stampedes. I also find that some persons who switched from Bacchanal only switched because their friends wanted to try other carnivals and so they went with the crowd,” she said.

Speaking with businessman Gary Matalon, who was a sponsor of Xodos Carnival under Campari and Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records, he expressed that despite the fact that individually the audiences were smaller, an increase in the number of road marches means a growth in Jamaica’s carnival culture.

MORE DYNAMIC EVENT

“I believe when people are more concentrated, the vibe is probably more intense, but the truth is, it has been like this in one or two carnivals for the past few years. As we expand into more carnivals, you have more people coming to Jamaica from overseas. This is just a platform for carnival to grow into a more dynamic event, and we can benefit from this in the long run. I think people are still enjoying themselves because not everyday you get to run up and down on the same routes that you are stuck in traffic on daily,” he said.

He also noted that Jamaica has some of the best promoters and he hopes next year they will devise a way to make the experience of hosting four separate carnivals more wholesome.

Popular DJ/co-organiser of Xaymaca Carnival, DJ Richie Ras, also noted that the small turnout for the road marches individually, is not to be seen as negative. He believes each carnival brand represents a different fan-base.

Carnival 2017 can best be described as collectively huge yet individually small, as thousands of patrons streamed out in their colourful costumes and attire. However, the vibe was not as intense, as revellers were scattered across four different parades.

Bands like Xaymaca and Xodus seemed to have pulled support from overseas, while Jamaica Carnival and Bacchanal Jamaica saw support from the upper, middle and lower class. Nevertheless the rain held up for the majority of the proceedings, and the promoters seemed content with their respective audiences, considering the increased options.

Recording artiste Denyque, who switched sides from Bacchanal to join Xaymaca carnival this year, admitted that a smaller audience is a disadvantage to the respective carnivals. She also noted that her decision to switch from Bacchanal was not 'selling out'.

“It's a bit of a minus that the audience is smaller because the general public looks out for carnival and the John public will not get to see the full experience and it’s a bit confusing. There is an idea that we can make it one long road march with all four carnivals, but that might be too long and tiring. As for me, I didn't go with Bacchanal this year because I have always been a part of the Sleek team. So once Sleek went on it’s own with Xaymaca Carnival, I went along with them. So it's not really a sell-out, but Sleek has always had my support,” she said.

Candy King, ambassador for Xaymaca, also expressed that she was overwhelmed by the turnout. She also defended the decrease in crowd size, highlighting that the event is more hassle free and patrons now have better access to food and bars.

One reveller, Terry Ann McKoy, who was spotted at the Xaymaca lunch station, noted that she switched because she wanted better customer service.

“I had a bad experience getting lunch in previous years, it was too much people trying to go to one food station at once. Also, I prefer when it is not scanty like this because I have more space to move without stampedes. I also find that some persons who switched from Bacchanal, only switched because their friends wanted to try other carnivals and so they went with the crowd,” she said.

Speaking with businessman Gary Matalon, who was a sponsor of Xodos Carnival under Campari and Usain Bolt’s Tracks and Records, he expressed that despite the fact that individually, the audiences were smaller, an increase in the number of road marches means a growth in Jamaica’s carnival culture.

“I believe when people are more concentrated, the vibe is probably more intense, but the truth is, it has been like this in one or two carnivals for the past few years. As we expand into more carnivals, you have more people coming to Jamaica from overseas. This is just a platform for carnival to grow into a more dynamic event and we can benefit from this in the long run. I think people are still enjoying themselves because not everyday you get to run up and down on the same routes that you are stuck in traffic on daily,” he said.

He also noted that Jamaica has some of the best promoters and he hopes next year they will devise a way to make the experience of hosting four separate carnivals more wholesome.

Popular DJ/co-organizer of Xaymaca Carnival, DJ Richie Ras, also noted that the small turnout for the road marches individually, is not to be seen as negative. He believes each carnival brand represents a different fan-base.