These are issues facing every carnival or mas band. It’s apparent in Notting Hill, where there’s an urgent need for younger designers, band-leaders, steelpan arrangers and players, and organisers to take over the reins from the old guard. Carnival needs new blood if it is to survive beyond its golden anniversary year.
No one quite knew what to expect when Carnival erupted in Seychelles in 2011. The country’s only previous experience of a street festival had been back in the 1970s. Would it prove to be an expensive flop or just a flash in the pan? How would the traditionally rather reserved and conservative Seychellois react to the rudeness and revelry?
In fact, Seychelles took to Carnival like a duck to water, and participants soon proved they could create imaginative costumes and spectacular floats. Local carnivalists’ enthusiasm and energy impresses everyone who visits. The Carnaval International de Victoria proves you can successfully mix overseas carnival delegations with local groups to promote tourism and culture in front of the world’s media.
But what comes next? “They need to come up with something new,” my taxi driver insisted. “Perhaps they should hold it every other year,” another suggested. At the press conference, a local journalist queried whether the carnival represented good value for money.
Alain St Ange & Claire Holder
Replies