With the Causeway Jump-Up on March 18 and the Junior Parade on April 8 (see Monday paper), it can be argued that the de facto Carnival season has been stretched to 1½ months. To be sure, the Children’s Parade was planned early this year from the beginning due to how the Easter holidays fall and it has now been moved up by just one day so it doesn’t take place on Palm Sunday.
The troupes were thus well aware of the need to get ready sooner than usual and that shouldn’t be a problem. Not everyone may like the idea of in effect starting the annual cultural celebration way before Easter, but it’s understandable from an organisational point of view.
After all, the Around Town Jump-Up has been scheduled for March 24, the Swimsuit Competition for March 25, the Junior Queen Pageant for March 26, the Senior Calypso Elimination for March 31 and the Lighted Parade for April 1. Moreover, the official opening of Carnival Village is on Easter Monday, simply because waiting any longer would not have allowed sufficient time for all the related events.
And let’s face it; the country has been in Carnival mode for some time, with presentations of costumes, mas camps opening, preparations for the various shows, etc. It’s actually nice that the Heineken Regatta is followed by two St. Maarten Carnival-related activities within the next few weeks to maintain a certain “buzz” among residents and visitors still on the island as the busy tourism period winds down.
If the March 15-19 SXM Music Festival on the French side is added to the mix, one could safely say the destination has quite a bit of welcome excitement on offer in the days to come.
