CARNIVAL IS colour, pageantry and wild behaviour. What a drab and uninteresting occasion it would be to see trucks and people moving down 'de' road in ordinary outfits! So, to enhance the revelry there must be breathtaking and eye-catching costumes.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the home of carnival in the Caribbean, costuming is an integral part of the carnival movement. Its organisers spend long hours during the year designing and making elegant and durable costumes. This is so because the forte of that carnival movement is based on spectacle, 'pretty mas'. And, after months of long toil the masqueraders hit the road in their beautiful costumes and play mas.
Over the last 16 years, Jamaica Carnival, now named Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival has been the vanguard of the pretty mas culture. The costumes each year have been most attractive and wearable. Some of these are designed and built here, while others are brought in from overseas and assembled here. With rising cost in acquiring material needed to build costumes of discriminating taste, there is escalation in the pricing of the finished product.
However, this year Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival will endeavour to maintain the customary pretty mas display, along with Affordable Carnival Attire (ACA). The female ACA consists of short blouses, short, short shorts with accompanying headdress and other ornaments, while their male counterparts will be clad in T-shirts, cycle shorts, along with other accessories. The costumes can be purchased at Supreme Ventures' head office, New Kingston and at any Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival's fete islandwide. An ACA will cost you only $1,200, while the pretty mas costumes will be sold at $3,000 each.
The pretty mas costumes will be worn in three sections of the mas band. Masqueraders in the Supreme Ventures section will wear an elegantly designed green and gold costume, while those in the Tastee section will be adorned in white and silver costumes. And, completing the kaleidoscope of colours will be the CVM TV masqueraders wearing fustian and blue costumes. All of these costumes will be complete with elaborate headdress and ornaments around the neck and feet.
Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival is resolute in strengthening the original road vibes, through the concept of offering an incentive package that includes a prize money awarded to the most disciplined, cohesive and lively section of the mas band. And, according to Danielle Lee, a director at Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival with responsibility for costumes, "The incentive will be for the group which best represents the 'Spirit of Carnival'." A key component to the new strategy will be the institution of point adjudicating.
According to Supreme Ventures, to achieve this new standard, masqueraders will be briefed at group meetings. So, visit Supreme Ventures New Kingston offices and at Supreme Ventures Jamaica Carnival fetes islandwide and book your costume of choice on time.
