Red Cross Carnival queen celebrates Caylee: I love mas

“I like to say that I was born to play mas,” said Caylee Sylvester, nine, who placed first in the Girls 9 to 12 category, and won Junior Queen of this year’s Red Cross Children’s Carnival with her costume, A Gift from India.

Before she went on stage at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on February 3, Caylee felt nervous and panicked, and said she usually is before her presentations. She started to cry because the wind felt strong and she was worried about it ruining her portrayal. However, once she got a feel for the wind, she stopped crying, said a prayer, and went on stage to have fun.

Once she got on stage and there was a camera on her, she became a different, more confident person. She liked a lot of the soca songs this year and that helped her as well.

Caylee told Newsday Kids when the winner was announced at the end of the show, the presenter initially called the registration number. She did not know her number but her father did and he began to jump up in excitement. Then she heard her name and she ran and jumped on her dad. When she won she was surprised, excited and very happy. “I was so happy and proud of myself that night. I literally did not know what to do with myself. I didn’t know what to say or do. I just jumped.”

Caylee was the queen for Zebapique Productions’ band, Nah Leavin’, T&T Nice: A tribute to Stephen Derek.

She started playing mas at age two, and individual mas at age three but she always loved Carnival. “I remember when I was a baby, when the music trucks were passing, all the babies would be crying and I would just be dancing to the music.”

Her first big individual costume was called Peace–a large dove–three years ago. Unfortunately, that year the wind blew her over and the only thing that prevented her from damaging her face on the ground was the headpiece, which was a beak. She said she just got up and kept dancing, but since then she had a small fear of the wind, but she would learn how to deal with it.

She said her big sister, Cyan Sylvester, 22, used to portray queen costumes for children’s Carnival and so helped her with her portrayals. She said Cyan would adjust her schedule to attend all of her competitions to support her. “My entire life she has always been there for me and so have my parents. I’m really happy for that.”

Caylee said she had not thought much about playing adult mas in the future but she knew she wants to play individual costumes, and queens if possible. She said she did not think she would like to play mas in bands because it was too clustered with people and there was no way to get the spotlight. She would also like to try J’Ouvert at least once in her life.

“Many people have different opinions about Carnival. Some like the partying and some like the mas. Not everybody is the same so it’s their choice how to enjoy it. I think Carnival is really fun because you get to portray a costume and enjoy yourself with people that you know.”

Caylee attends Holy Name Preparatory and participates in a number of extra curricular activities including swimming, ballet, voice training, drama, and is part of her school choir. She intends to go to Holy Name Convent and then the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados, as her sister did, because she loves Barbados’ beaches and its people. She said she would decide what to study in UWI after her first year in secondary school.