Did you know you could bring in the New Year ON the road for Carnival? St. Kitts Carnival better known as Sugar Mas, takes places every year on January 1 and 2. According to the St.Kitts tourism board, the National Carnival opens on a Friday, rung in by a vibrant female calypso show and J’ouvert occurs on Boxing Day (December 26)
Majesty Carnival gives us an inside look into their band for the upcoming carnival festivities.
Can you let us know who you plan on having on the design team?
This year we have so much talent designing for Majesty. We have designer Rawle Permanand from Trinidad, working with us for the third year. We also have other designers such as Natalie Fonrose (Trinidad), Kontact Band, in house designer from Barbados and Kittitian designer, Corrinne Poujade-Flanders.
How can people expect to feel when they put on your designs?
They can expect top quality and an appreciation for the sheer beauty of the costumes, we did our best to bring unique designs this year by adding different concepts to the St.Kitts market. Masqueraders can expect great production of the costumes.
Why is it known as Sugar Mas ?
St.Kitts’ carnival is known as Sugar Mas because it is known as the sweetest carnival. Historically, St. Kitts was one of the leading sugar manufacturers post slavery. In essence, the costumes, riddims, music, women and carnival itself is sweet. Til this day, you see miles and acres of sugar cane fields in St. Kitts. Everything is about sugar, therefore the name took place.
What are you looking forward to for St. Kitts Carnival 2020 (Sugar Mas 48)?
We are looking forward to honoring the legacy of our Angel band owner and mom, we re-branded Solid SKB to Majesty Carnival in her honor. Additionally, we are looking forward to all the new visitors who will get to experience our carnival. There is a lot of international interest this year, this will be a booming year and we cannot wait to show the world what St. Kitts has to offer. The greatest thing about Sugar Mas is that the year ends with carnival and starts with carnival. Who wouldn’t want to kick off the New Year playing mas?
What is the one thing you wish you could let masqueraders understand about running a carnival band?
The difficulty with trying to put out quality products, on tight deadlines and stick within budgets. There is so much to the gorgeous costumes, we are coordinating costume production, photography, even purchasing feathers and fabric can be time consuming and costly. Coordinating drink trucks, logistics and safety. There are a lot of things happening in the background to ensure we have a smooth and amazing experience. All of those items, the costumes, experience and amenities ties into the price points of costumes overall. It isn’t just about the feathers and even feathers are expensive.
Our design team go days and days designing costumes, and all of that takes time. We do it for the love of carnival and we enjoy seeing our masqueraders wearing our costumes and having an amazing time and that is the biggest accomplishment for us.
Registration is Officially Open
Location
Mike Stokes Jewelry Store on Fort Street
Monday to Friday 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Saturday 1:00pm to 5:00pm
All Deposits/ Registration fees are NON REFUNDABLE
Frontline & Middleline fees are $550.00ec or $206.00us
Backline & Males $350.00ec or $132.00us
If you have any questions or concerns about registering please contact the team at info@majestycarnival.com
Personally, I’ll be on the road with Majesty Carnival for 2020. I cannot wait to see what Sugar Mas is like.
Yours in Mas,
