The Greatest Bacchanal on Earth: Here’s how it went down

Scores of patrons gathered last weekend for Bacchanalia Festival, promoted as "The Greatest Bacchanal on Earth" – a three-part J'Ouvert, fete and road party event, hosted by Caesar's Army.

The event gave an indication of the Road March contenders with the crowd going wild each time the DJ played soca hits like Bunji Garlin’s Hard Fete; Lyrical and Lil Natty and Thunda’s The Ambush; Voice’s Long Live Soca; Nailah Blackman and Skinny Fabulous’s Come Home and Machel Montano and Patrice Roberts’s Like Yuh Self.

The bacchanal kicked off at 3 am on February 4 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, with Bacchanal Blocko, a J'Ouvert initiation event where partygoers, who mostly wore white, frolicked to the pulsing rhythm of old and new soca songs.

The crowd of Romans, as they are dubbed, were baptised in colour as they eagerly embraced an enduring spray of water and vibrantly hued paint and powder – revelling in the dutty mas tradition.

One patron who did not want to be named since he claimed his wife was unaware that he was at the event told Sunday Newsday, "My madam don’t even know I here. I couldn’t miss this. This is epic! Now ah ready come J'Ouvert morning!"

In between sets by a star line-up of DJs, an energetic rhythm section which was a notable staple at all three of the festival's instalments, kept the engine going as patrons showed their iron love – dingolaying to the beat of the dudup (a progenitor of the steelpan), the djun djun (two-sided bass drum) and, of course, clanging iron.

By the time performances started, the crowd was already bursting with a palpable energy that reverberated through the venue.

Soca artiste Lyrikal performed a few of his older hits like Rukshun and Fete Cyar Over that were eagerly received by patrons but it was his performance of his newest hit The Ambush alongside Grenada's dynamic soca duo Lil Natty and Thunda that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

With the crowd chanting the song's catchy lyrics, “We ready for road...forward, forward, forward,” the performing trio commanded patrons to charge forward – an edict they enthusiastically obliged.

Emboldened by the energy, Lyrikal fearlessly surfed the crowd who were happy to charge forward with the artist bobbing on their shoulders.

Shortly after, the cheering crowd welcomed soca star Bunji Garlin who did not need any introduction. As soon as the soundtrack for his hit song Hard Fete started blasting on the speakers, any remaining semblance of control the crowd had was lost.

Nearing the end of his set patrons were seen giving the Viking of Soca $100 TT and US to continue performing.

Daniel Loveless, the man behind the popular social media segment What Yuh Know, was one such patron who offered money to Garlin to continue performing. With the help of his fellow patrons Loveless was lifted onto the stage where he performed Garlin's Hard Fete lyrics word for word to the further delight of the crowd. Eventually fire officials had to make their way to the front of the crowd to prevent patrons from breaking down the fence bordering the stage. Garlin had to repeatedly remind the crowd not to “mash up de fence,” during his performance.

Later that evening patrons began trickling in at around 6 pm at Drew Manor, Santa Cruz, for Caesar's Army's newest offering Bacchanalia-The Bacchanal Fete.

Romans decked out in their Italian-chic outfits to match the evening's dress code, though visibly more tamed than the larger Bacchanal Blocko crowd, still kept the vibe and energy high as they enjoyed the musical sets by DJs and the ambiance at the premium drinks inclusive event.

Voice's performance featuring The Top 5 Band was well received by the crowd who eventually lost their inhibitions, leading some women to kick their heels off and dance barefoot on the grass as the soca artiste sang his hit song for the season, Long Live Soca. Olatunji also delighted the crowd with his 2023 soca offering, Engine Room.

The weekend's festivities climaxed on February 5 with Bacchanal Road which was undoubtedly the biggest event of the three.

At that event patrons outfitted in their Carnival Monday wear were seen chipping behind the big trucks blasting soca music as they joyously made their way to cross the stage.

Bunji Garlin and Lil Natty and Thunda were again a part of a star lineup of performers that also included Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez.

The crowd response was very energetic but Sunday Newsday observed some patrons expressing their disappointment over Garlin and Lyons' short performance.

Kambe Lovelace who attended the event for the fourth time on Sunday told Sunday Newsday, compared to previous years, there were fewer people in attendance which he attributed in part to Panorama which was also held on Sunday and may have thwarted ticket sales.

“Pan on the greens took away some of Bacchanal Road’s crowd because I think the event was appealing…There were a lot of different performances, along with pan…Given the history of Bacchanal Road and it being sold out…I don’t think they pushed as hard to make it as marketable.”

Lovelace rated the event a six out of ten and said the event should be reinvented to include new routes, more performances and should include a bigger marketing push from promoters.

“It took longer to start the movement of the trucks…but overall I had a great time."

Lovelace also said he felt rushed crossing the stage and was disappointed at how abruptly the music stopped signalling the end of the event. The event was officially scheduled to end at 8 pm but actually wrapped about an hour later.

At the end of the event, Newsday interviewed some patrons who described the event as “amazing.”

Johanna, the owner of Jo’s makeup artistry said, “Bacchanal road was amazing! It take win.”

Another patron, Kevin, described his experience as "excellent."

Mark, a Brooklyn resident who came to TT for the Carnival festivities said he enjoyed himself immensely.

“I really enjoyed Bunji and his performance. And, at the beginning, Thunda and Natty, really good performance.”

On Carnival Thursday, Caesar’s Army will host the next event in their Carnival calendar, AM Beach followed by AM Bush on Carnival Saturday.