Over 40 kiddies bands cross downtown stage

The Downtown Junior Carnival did not disappoint this year as more than 40 bands paraded across the downtown stage at South Quay on Sunday.

Bands like Bossier Village Children's Band had themes such as Wings of Paradise where the queens and kings wore spectacular iridescent colourful metallic-winged costumes.

Small band Bailey Dynasty Mas' presentation, Relics of the Mayan had children dressed in vibrant red and blue costumes of Mayan warriors. As Bailey Dynasty took their children to South America, Margaret and Associates took theirs to Africa with their presentation A Touch of Africa. The kings and queens were dressed as African warriors. One of their sections was called Ghana.

Some bands dedicated their presentation to TT and traditional mas. Lilliput Theatre, for instance, had a mini band with six masqueraders dressed as traditional mas characters such as the Midnight Robber, Pierrot Grenade, blue devil and sailors.

The show, carded to start at 1 pm had a few presentations cross the stage but there was a lull between 1.30 pm and 2.15 pm. Sheron Cedeno, an official of the downtown Junior Carnival said inconsiderate drivers not allowing the children to pass was one of the causes of the lull. On Saturday a similar lull happened.

Cedeno said 2020 marked the 117th year of the Downtown Carnival and she was proud to continue the tradition of downtown mas. Children from the Princess Elizabeth Special School were in the stands and were sponsored by KFC to attend and were treated to lunch.

If Junior Carnival can give insight into Road March contenders, Iwer George appears to be competing against himself, as his songs Stage Gone Bad – that he sung with Kees Dieffenthaller – and Conch Shell – which he collaborated with Gamal Doyle aka Skinny Fabulous and Machel Montano – appear to be in the running. The music truck which played with Bossier Village Children's Band for instance, played Stage Gone Bad three times in a row.