Carnival Jump Up

Yesterday was Labor Day and here in Brooklyn it was also West Indian American Day. Since Laura is Caribbean at heart we were all excited to celebrate with her. Laura was in it for the long haul, attending J'Ouvert which is a block party to bring in the dawn of Carnival. She left the apartment at 2 or so in the morning and danced in the street with her brethren, flinging paint on one another and getting down to drums and bass until around 7 when she came home, showered and went back to bed. I was still very very sick and decided that early morning reveling was probably not medically advisable. I couldn't even breathe enough to sleep but was sorry to see Laura and her friend Matt go out without me.

Late yesterday morning though I was up and more or less feeling better enough to see what Carnival is all about. I managed to rouse Laura and Matt and Sarah showed up to join us for the big Parade. Laura got decked out in a complete St Vincent outfit and lent Sarah and me each a St Vincent rag to wave. She looked amazing and it was fun to be with a real participant, not just observers in this very cultural affair.

We walked north from our neighborhood to Eastern Parkway which is kind of a long way. The parade went down Eastern and was already in progress when we arrived, moving slow in fits and starts. It was comprised of floats and bands.

The floats were tractor trailers with wooden structures built atop a flatbed trailer. Within the wooden structures there were big speakers blasting music if we were lucky, or drums and bass. Scattered among the speakers were costumed dancers, sometimes, and a variety of riders and leaders or speakers. These people had microphones and were trying to organize that band. A couple of times there were performers on the floats but not usually. The floats weren't decorated so much, though some had banners or signs. They were mostly just boards, speakers and people.

The bands were not musical bands but bands of masquerading carnival partiers. They were often decked out in carnival costumes with beads, feathers and huge head-dresses. Some outfits were so big and ornate they both worn and drawn, as the outlying parts had to be supported by wheels. For the most part the bands were not dancing to the music or listening to the leaders. Other than costumed dancers there were just people, many many people, wearing or carrying flags of their Caribbean home, walking along beside the float among the costumed band, looking like they were simply walking down any street on any day. It was kind of strange, and since we were right by the Judge's stand, there were lots of time lags while floats and bands proceeded past us to be judged and others had to be held back. At times large crowds of non-costumed people would be sent back up the parade route by the band leaders to get them away from the judged costumed band.

A Costumed Band Member

The whole affair was completely fascinating and I wish I could attend a carnival in the Caribbean one day and see what its like with MORE dancing and MORE music and excitement. The crowd was a lot of fun and we were happy to wave our rags whenever we saw other St Vincent flags on floats and such.

Sarah and I also shared some delicious chicken and fries from a Caribbean food stand. You could smell the delicious food and see lots of exotic foods too. The weather was also beautiful and we managed to snag a shady spot to watch the parade. At the end of the parade we walked back down to our apartment, exhausted, especially poor Laura who had gotten considerably less sleep than me.