Ocho Rios Carnival promises to return in a major way

Ocho Rios Carnival is pushing to have a "new and improved approach" to the festivities for its 2023 staging, the organisers promised.

According to co-founders, Julius Morgan and Marvin Lawrence of Lawless Events, Ocho Rios Carnival, which was part of the bigger All-Island Carnival events, has shown more potential as a one-day event which caters to both carnival traditionalists and newcomers such as tourists frequenting St Ann.

Lawrence said, "With All-Island Carnival, we were able to explore 11 out of 14 parishes, St Elizabeth, Hanover and Trelawny were the three parishes which did not have a carnival. The Ocho Rios area stood out to us as one to continue building out [so] we started zeroing on the area and St Ann by and large."

He added, "We are part of the Carnival in Jamaica outfit and continue to provide an improved experience each year and continue to encourage the local community to support as many events during the season. Ocho Rios is a tourist area and for that reason we do get a lot of persons, visitors walking Main Street, who out of curiosity and for a yearning for local culture come out early and get involved."

Ocho Rios generally has its road march on Easter Monday, before the main Carnival in Jamaica celebrations in Kingston. Last year, once the Government of Jamaica gave the green light for the entertainment sector to reopen, Ocho Rios Carnival organisers led with their event in April as planned, despite all other bands declining to have their regular stagings.

Predominantly a T-shirt band, Lawrence and his team have managed to maintain its tradition of having five sections, namely, Arawaks, Tainos, Maroons, Soca Junkies and Red Ants to have some sense of uniformity while building cultural awareness.

"I believe this year will be the first time all of us are coming back in a major way. Many promoters and events would have been testing the waters after the lockdown, us included. It turns out it was so nice, we decided to do it twice in 2022, once in April, because we had felt prepared to host it, and then again in the summer we had another 'Wuk Up', kept in line with the other bands' activities," he shared.

Lawrence continued, "We have dabbled in costumes in the past, in 2018 and 2019. But then after the pandemic grounded us for two years, we decided, based on people's losses and expenses, to return to T-shirts as we build up the momentum again. The expectation is that it will be an amazing turnout which is already evident based off sponsor feedback and social media presence."

He said following the purchase of a ticket, persons will be informed of the redemption date for the collection of T-shirts. Ocho Rios Carnival will begin welcoming masqueraders as early as 10 a.m. for a tailgate party at Turtle River Park and then by 2 p.m., guide them through a soon-to-be announced route through the town and back to the start point, which will segue into the night-time fete.

"There are several discussions being had with hotels that our carnival wishes to partner with. We are urging everyone to come out early to be part of the tailgate, start getting hydrated and building up that energy for what will be a fun, vibrant season and just support the culture," Morgan added.