"THE MIN NOW RMHN' UP... THI CROWD NOW WAK1N8 UP... THE ATMOSPHERE HAS VIRES AND... NOTHIN' CANT BREAK IT UP... WE READY FOR THE ROAD. In his seminal song for T&T carnival 20 1 3, Differentology, soca superstar Bun ji Garlin set the scene for the upcoming masquerade and Montreal Carifiesta: raisin' up... the "the sun now crowd now waking up... the atmosphere has vibes and... nothin' can't break it up... WE READY FOR THE ROAD. So it is for the multitude of revelers and spectators who are ready to enjoy Montreal's hypest, most colorful and bounciest street parade, Carifiesta, once the best this side of the Atlantic.
Washington DC's Caribbean Carnival, which is in its 11th year, takes more than 500,000 Caribbean people "back home" with its parade of life, color and unity. To the dismay of many attendees, the parade moved from its original home on Georgia Avenue to the downtown area, where the white, business-class atmosphere with its federal buildings made some feel as though their culture was an exhibit in an art museum.
On Saturday, July 3, certain sections of downtown Montreal should have been teeming with the music and vibrations of the Caribbean on what was supposed to be the 35th or 36th staging (depending on who is counting) of the annual Carifiesta parade. Instead, not a drum will be heard and the soca, calypso, reggae and zouk rythmns that should have been fueling the fire in the tens of thousands of participants and spectators along Rene Levesques Blv'd. will be replaced by the usual humdrum of Saturday commerce on the thoroughfare. So when it's all said and done as the cliché goes... it's our fault that we'll not be palancing in downtown Montreal.
The Los Angeles Caribbean Carnival, held in late Oct 2002, featured uninhibited dancing from scantily-clad women, entertainment from Calypso Rose and other Caribbean musicians and plenty of good food.
