~ Announces tentative schedule ~
The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) will embark on a "Save The Dates" campaign within short with a clear objective of early promotion of St. Maarten’s Carnival for visitors and residents alike. As such, the SCDF has identified tentative dates for the 2011 Carnival festivities.
Public Relations Officer for the SCDF Erno Labega said Carnival lovers should save the dates of April 25, 2011 to May 2, 2011 as the official period for Carnival 2011. However, he continued, there will be several pre-Carnival events outside of Carnival Village in the weekends from March 19, 2011 to April 2, 2011.
Labega explained that carnival will be shorter than usual in 2011 because of the way the Easter season falls next year. Good Friday will be on April 22, and Easter Sunday on April 24. The SCDF have chosen not to hold any festivities in the depth of the Lenten season.
Therefore, the last pre-Carnival event will be April 2 and then a break until the official opening to respect Lent. "Every so often Easter falls like this and we just have to adjust accordingly. This has happened before and we managed to have some terrific festivities and that is the plan again for 2011," Labega said.
About the "Save the Date" campaign, Labega said "Hotel properties that have regular guests for Carnival can start informing them of the official dates. We will push the dates with the cooperation of our tourism marketing representatives in all source markets and local hospitality associations.
"It is also important for local stakeholders, like booth holders for example, to know that the schedule will be shorter next year. We will hold a number of promotional initiatives for Carnival 2011 to get people to save those dates as they only place to be in March and April of 2011."
The SCDF is also continuing with it efforts to clear its arrears and plan some fundraising activities to take place after the summer holidays. "As we go along we will be in constant contact with stakeholders to keep them abreast of our progress," Labega said.