The 2013 Carnival Road March…the elaborate and breathtaking showing
Following the jouvert, the carnival road march on Saturday was a spectacular show as it made its way from the Yarborough Green to the B.T.L. Park. For one there were more bands this year, the costumes were more elaborate than ever before and the thousands that lined up the parade route loved every minute of the event. The road march came to an end with an announcement of the winners way into the evening. Duane Moody reports.
Carnival 2013…. It all began on Cesar Ridge Road as revelers dressed in a cornucopia of colors and intricate costuming assembled along the street to take the two mile street along Central America Boulevard to Princess Margaret Drive and end in front of the B.T.L. Park. Thirteen bands – six juniors and seven seniors—over eight hundred revelers, carnival kings and queens, formed the road march. But how ready were the bands?
Marilyn Young, Sunshine Masqueraders
Marilyn Young
“I felt very good because I think it is time. We’ve been in the carnival business for the past thirteen years. So as you get older, you try to improve as much as possible.”
Duane Moody
“Tell us about the inspiration behind your pieces that we are seeing out here today and your revelers?”
Marilyn Young
“I could tell you, you have to have a lot of patience to deal with the children because they are all excited, they are all hype and they get carried away.”
Duane Moody
“Miss Marina, Jump Street coming hard…”
Marina Welcome
Marina Welcome, Jump Street Posse
“We are here to kill. We are going to kill them with the cow together. It is all about the two foot cow today.”
Duane Moody
“Tell us once again about the inspiration behind your pieces you have out ehre today and from the win at King and Queen?”
Marina Welcome
“I think we are taking home something today. It is all about Belizean gem in the front; we are dealing with our main man, Andy Palacio, it is a tribute to him and I hope his spirit guides us today; that we take home something. The second section is a reenactment of September nineteenth…We are hitting it with the two foot cow for the very first time in Belize City. And for the third section, it is all about our first inhabitants; it is all about the Mayan.”
Duane Moody
Emisha
“This year in a surprise twist, there are two representations from sown south…of course one from P.G. and one from Seine Bight. And we are here with Irahunu Mas Band from Seine Bight. I am here with Emisha and she is the one handling this dragon. Emisha tell us about the theme for your carnival band.”
Emisha, Irahunu Mas Band
“We are representing Alice in Wonderland. And I am the red queen; queen Funat. Funat in Garifuna is red and I am also known to my people as the red queen. I think it will be a little difficult for me to carry this a far distance but I am going to try I have to try. These are my soldiers and then on the other hand we have Alice in the blue and white and her soldiers the white soldiers and then behind that we got the garden in Alice in Wonderland. Judicia Cruz is carrying the costume.”
Amanda Taylor
Amanda Taylor, Evolution Mas Band
“This is Evolution Mas Band, our first year in carnival of course. We are depicting destination Belize which is from the tropical rain forest to the ancient Mayan ruins to deep depths of the Blue Hole—let’s discover Belize.”
Anthony Tucker, Belizean Jewel
Anthony Tucker
“This year, Belizean jewel planned to do the reef, under the reef and as you can see we came in first and second for king. What we wanted was a concept that would have bring a fictional story to the storyline with bringing the reef like no one else would have seen. Hence the reason why we have the mermaid bursting out of the shell, we have the lionfish, we have the sword fish and we also had the clam. Now what the clam did is having dolphins bring the pearl to life. So that was our concept of bringing the reef and this year as you can see we are very active in forecasting how we predict the reef and our interpretation of the reef.”
And after an entire year of preparation and detailing, mas camps and the two mile long road march of colors, choreography and revelry, the Champions of the 2013 Carnival Road March were announced.
Karen Vernon
Karen Vernon, Institute of Creative Arts
“The junior carnival band was won by Pickstock Carnival Band and they took home seven thousand dollars or they are taking home seven thousand dollars as prizes will be given out this Thursday at the Pan Yaad Concert. And the senior winning band is Mother Nature’s Creation and they are taking home ten thousand dollars. It definitely grew from last year compared to this year with regards to the size, in regards to the quality of the costumes that were made; the presentations that were out there, it definitely grew from last year compared to this year. Some of the things that the judges were looking for is definitely carnival hype, the durability of the costumes coming down the road. There was a prejudging which was worth twenty points—and that was creativity and how well they blended colors and all that together. And the points on the road was eighty points adding up to a hundred points each judge could give a band. We had four judges—two international judges included in that—and the judges were looking for that. The bands also knew ahead of time that when they reach the judging point, they should not choreograph moves but perform for the judges; show them the carnival spirit and the carnival hype; blow their whistles, dance, scream and shout and get in the carnival spirit.”
Jump Street Posse took second in the junior category with Sunshine Masqueraders taking third. And in the senior category it was Belizean Jewel beating Soca Warriors for second place. Duane Moody for News Five.
